B League Division 2 Round 1
Duleek Bellewstown 1-10 Seneschalstown 1-20
One man’s misfortune can be another’s opportunity and so it proved today for Seneschalstown’s Junior A side as despite being without twenty-two players who were available for varying reasons those who were available for selection turned on the style in Duleek to beat their hosts by ten points in this B League Division 2 opener.
B League Division 2 Round 1
Duleek Bellewstown 1-10 Seneschalstown 1-20
One man’s misfortune can be another’s opportunity and so it proved today for Seneschalstown’s Junior A side as despite being without twenty-two players who were available for varying reasons those who were available for selection turned on the style in Duleek to beat their hosts by ten points in this B League Division 2 opener.
With just six of the team that played in their final B League game in 2015 and five of the team which was on duty for the JBFC Final this was truly a much changed outfit which led to some doubt before the throw in as to how they would fare in this match.
These doubts though were clearly not held within the dressing room as straight from the throw in they hit the first three points of the match. A minute hadn’t even elapsed before Eddie Meade struck over following good play out the field from the Darby brothers, Robert and Neil. Eoin Finnegan then got his opener following an assist by centerfield stalwart Darragh Keogh before Keogh himself got on the scoresheet. Duleek/Bellewstown hit back with three points of their own in a four-minute spell to tie the game up after nine minutes.
On fourteen minutes Robert Darby knocked over his second when getting on the end of tidy work from the returning to action Philip Sheridan before Finnegan tagged on a free. Soon after Darby thought he had registered a goal when he finished to the net following a length of the field move only for following a consultation with the umpire Andrew Lenehan disallowed it for a square ball. His despair though turned to joy seconds later when following a poor free Seneschalstown got possession back and Darby made no mistake at the second time of asking as he rattled the back of the net. Full forward Eddie Meade then raised his second white flag when despite being fouled he made full use of the advantage rule before pointing.
On twenty-six minutes Duleek/Bellewstown got a much needed lifeline when after a shot came back off the crossbar they managed to squeeze the rebound past Shane Corbally. Seneschalstown though found an impressive reply as they reeled off three points in a row on the run in to half time through the boots of Rob Darby with two and Eoin Finnegan with the other, Finnegans coming when he got on the end of a fine passing move involving Peter Tierney, Ruairí Keogh, Colin Gleeson and Eddie Meade. This left the score reading Seneschalstown 1-10 to Duleek/Bellewstown’s 1-03 at the break of play.
Eoin Finnegan extended the lead to eight points upon the resumption when he knocked over a free but this was soon cancelled out by a similar Duleek/Bellewstown score. The youngest member of the side who turned eighteen over the weekend did manage the individual score of the game on thirty-three minutes when Finnegan turned his marker inside out before sending over an exquisite point from forty metres out.
At this point Seneschalstown began to introduce some reinforcements off the bench with debutant Ivan McCormack making way for a well-earned rest following a fine outing on the forty as he used his experience to great effect. The 2015 Junior D Championship winning captain Francis Sheridan came on in his stead and he managed to get his name on the scoresheet within minutes when curling an effort between the uprights to cancel out a score for the home side two minutes earlier.
As the match entered the final quarter Duleek/Bellewstown looked to mount a comeback as they reeled off four points in a row but not wanting to let the victory slip from their grasp Seneschalstown found a riposte when firstly Eoin Finnegan pointed and then Mr. Versatile, Ronan Conneely, fisted over. A D/B point with nine minutes remaining left five between the sides but from there to the final whistle it was all Seneschalstown as Eoin Finnegan, Eddie Meade, Robert Darby and Shane Mulvany with two closed the game out for the visitors.
This was as good a start to the League as Seneschalstown could have wished for and with a huge number of players due to return competition for places is sure to be very intense in the coming weeks. Pick of the bunch for them in this game were Colin Gleeson, Ruairí Keogh, and the Darby brothers, Neil and Robert.
Seneschalstown: Shane Corbally, Peter Tierney, Adam Gargan, Ruairí Keogh, Cormac Mullen, Colin Gleeson, Colin Walsh, Darragh Keogh (0-01), Neil Darby, Ronan Conneely (0-01), Ivan McCormack, Philip Sheridan, Eoin Finnegan (0-08, 0-03 Frees), Eddie Meade (0-03), Robert Darby (1-04).
Seneschalstown Substitutions: Francis Sheridan (0-01) for I. McCormack, David Gordon for P. Sheridan, Stephen Dillon for D. Keogh and Shane Mulvany (0-02) for R. Conneely.
