Meath U-17 Division 1 Football League Final
Seneschalstown 2-10 St. Colmcilles 0-06
History was made last Thursday in Trim when having suffered the disappointment of defeat in the 2017 decider, the class of 2018 made amends when laying claim to the silverware as they defeated St. Colmcilles by 10 points in the U-17 Division 1 Football League Final.
Meath U-17 Division 1 Football League Final
Seneschalstown 2-10 St. Colmcilles 0-06
History was made last Thursday in Trim when having suffered the disappointment of defeat in the 2017 decider, the class of 2018 made amends when laying claim to the silverware as they defeated St. Colmcilles by 10 points in the U-17 Division 1 Football League Final.
In a game pockmarked with moments of brilliance amidst an hour where hard graft, patience and perseverance were prevalent. Both teams found the other difficult to break down, with defences doing well but the longer the game wore on Seneschalstown began to make their superior percentage of possession count and added the scores which their general play deserved.
A total of 16 points will win many games but what will most please the Seneschalstown management is that they were able to limit a much-vaunted St. Colmcilles attack to just 6 points, and this without reverting to pulling every player back behind the ball. Each defender went out with a mission to outplay his opponent and to a man the defensive sextet were outstanding with the central pillars of Simon Rooney and Cathal Hickey particularly impressive in this regard while the midfield duo of James O’Hare and Padraig Finnegan were always on hand as an extra body when the need arose.
This defensive effort is highlighted by the fact Seneschalstown conceded a paltry 2 points in the second half. 1 of which came from play and no score at all after the 37th minute. When St. Colmcilles did manage to get in for a goal chance they were unlucky to see the initial effort crash back off the crossbar before Cathal Darby flung himself at the rebound to expertly save the day. This all occurred on the three-quarter mark of the game and had the Cilles managed a goal at this point the end game could have been somewhat different, but Darby was alive to the danger and saved the day.
From there on Seneschalstown kicked on with 1-04 before the final whistle. The raiding Cillian Lawlor up from wing back was first to land a score before Padraig Finnegan scored an excellent goal after doing well to get his shot away when bottled up after James O’Hare and Kit Waddington had done well to present him with the goal chance. Substitutes Woodley Nicholson and the returning from injury Sean Commons embellished the scoreboard further before fittingly the tireless James O’Hare kicked the last score of the game in stoppage time to spark joyous scenes of celebrations.
The early stages of the final had been somewhat cagey with both sides probing for weaknesses in the others armoury and at half time there was just a solitary point between the teams, Seneschalstown 0-05, St. Colmcilles 0-04. Joseph Moore had contributed 3 of the Seneschalstown points in this period while Kit Waddington who had opened the scoring and Ross Mullen provided the other while for the Laytown/ Bettystown outfit David Bell landed 3 and Ben Wilde the other.
The second half started in a brighter manner with Jeaic Timmons pointing inside the opening minute before Seneschalstown’s aspirations of success received a major fillip when after Ross Mullen was felled for a penalty, Joseph Moore made no mistake as he rifled the ball into the right-hand corner of the net with an unstoppable strike. David Bell who was shouldering much of the responsibility in the St. Colmcilles attack responded with a brace of points, but this was to be the last time his side would trouble the umpires as Seneschalstown battened down the hatches at the back while up front they began to make hay as dusk began to fall over St. Loman’s Park.
On a night when all who pulled on the Seneschalstown jersey contributed handsomely they were best served by James O’Hare who covered every blade of grass, Cathal Hickey who was the glue that held the defence together and Cathal Darby whose save proved crucial and was pinpoint accurate with his kickouts.
Seneschalstown: Cathal Darby, Josh Ryan, Simon Rooney, Tiernan Keogh, Liam Maguire, Cathal Hickey, Cillian Lawlor (0-01), Padraig Finnegan (1-00), James O’Hare (0-01), Kit Waddington (0-01), Jamie Kirwan, Joseph Moore (1-03, 0-02F), Ross Mullen (0-01, 0-01F), Tom Barron, Jeaic Timmons (0-01).
Seneschalstown Substitutions: Woodley Nicholson (0-01) for T. Keogh, Sean Commons (0-01, 0-01F) for T. Barron, Conor McDonnell for P. Finnegan, Alan Carey for K. Waddington.
