AFL Division 1B Round 7
Seneschalstown 1-15 Curraha 1-11
Despite missing a plethora of players which amounted to double digits, a strong second half performance propelled Seneschalstown to a fourth win of the League campaign over fellow Senior side Curraha in Fr. Tully Park on Tuesday night. Both sides were boosted by the return of county personnel – Cathal Hickey for the hosts and James McEntee for Curraha.
AFL Division 1B Round 7
Seneschalstown 1-15 Curraha 1-11
Despite missing a plethora of players which amounted to double digits, a strong second half performance propelled Seneschalstown to a fourth win of the League campaign over fellow Senior side Curraha in Fr. Tully Park on Tuesday night. Both sides were boosted by the return of county personnel – Cathal Hickey for the hosts and James McEntee for Curraha.
McEntee opened scoring for the hour when he pointed a free from under the scoreboard, with Seneschalstown having to wait until the 5th minute to open their account. Eoin Finnegan pointing from a mark, which has become a regular occurrence this year. He was on target again less than 60 seconds later, this time from play.
The visitors replied with a brace of their own to move 0-03 0-02 ahead by the 11th minute. By the end of the first quarter the lead had changed hands once again. Finnegan the tormentor in chief with two points – the first coming after Sean Carey drove at the ‘Ha defence, the second after he claimed a spectacular mark 25 metres out.
Things changed again in the 19th minute when a Curraha attack was unceremoniously halted by a Seneschalstown defender as it was moving at pace towards goal. After checking with his umpires to see where the foul occurred, Andrew Smith correctly awarded the visitors a penalty. James McEntee made no mistake, empathically converting to the bottom left hand corner. Three of the next four points also went their way, leaving the scoreboard reading 1-06 to 0-05. Seneschalstown’s only score in this Curraha purple patch was a first ever Senior point for Tom McDonnell who finished a fine move involving Jack Owens and Cathal Hickey after Seneschalstown won one of their long kickouts.
One last Finnegan free left the penalty as the difference between the teams at the break.
Whatever Ciaran Marks said to his side at the break, it certainly had the desired effect on his troops in the second half. A lot of the heavy lifting was done between the 30th and 40th minutes, a dominant spell for the home side which yielded an unanswered 1-04 which turned the four point deficit into a three point lead.
Straight from the throw-in Dylan Keating, who would go onto have a very productive half, pointed for Seneschalstown. Jack Owens followed up 90 seconds later with a point from out on the right. Keating again, and a long range effort from Donie Commons eradicated the deficit altogether by the 37th minute. Things were to get even better for the home side three minutes later when they found the back of the Curraha net. Dylan Keating and Cathal Hickey combined well, and the latter spotted Eoin Finnegan in space in the large square. Despite only having the goalkeeper to beat, Finnegan did the unselfish thing and pass across to the onrushing Keating who had the simple task of palming to the empty net. Seneschalstown now led 1-10 to 1-06, but Curraha to their credit replied strongly with three on the bounce to leave the minimum between the sides.
Seneschalstown composed themselves once more and in the 48th minute Sean Commons pointed a 45’ in his last game before departing for Chicago next week. Jack Owens added his second point instantly, doing well to tidy up when it looked like a goal chance had gone. After another McEntee placed ball, Keating and Finnegan (free) gave Seneschalstown a bit of breathing space before the luckless hosts lost Keating to a hamstring injury.
Curraha did have a couple of chances for a late goal, Brian Maguire and David Gordon doing well on a few occasions to prevent it. Indeed Gordon did well to pull off a save from close range.
Seneschalstown’s last point was a Finnegan free after Podge Finegan collided with the Curraha keeper which later added to the list of absentees, the like of which I have never seen before!
There were plenty of positives that Seneschalstown could take from the night, not least the second half comeback which saw some very slick passages of play and good defending. The age profile was another noticeable aspect. The oldest starting player for the home side was 24, surely the youngest adult team fielded in the club’s history.
This was another good two points on the board for the Yellow Furze men with a trip to Oldcastle to come in a fortnight’s time.
Seneschalstown: David Gordon, Simon Rooney, Brian Maguire, Cillian Lawlor, Rob Wogan, Woodley Nicholson, Sean Carey, Cathal Hickey, Podge Finegan, Dylan Keating (1-03), Sean Commons (0-01, 1 45’), Tom McDonnell (0-01), Donie Commons (0-01), Eoin Finnegan (0-07, 4fs, 2m) Jack Owens (0-02).
Subs: Darren Laird, Liam Maguire, Peter Tierney, Cathal Darby
