Meath A League Division 1 Round 9
Seneschalstown 2-14 St. Patrick’s 1-13
Following two hefty defeats in their most recent League matches Seneschalstown picked up two valuable points on Wednesday evening when overcoming a one point half time deficit to defeat St. Patrick’s by four at the end. Boosted by the return of some key players the home side turned in a much improved performance and at times played some excellent football, mixing the direct with the patient running game.
Meath A League Division 1 Round 9
Seneschalstown 2-14 St. Patrick’s 1-13
Following two hefty defeats in their most recent League matches Seneschalstown picked up two valuable points on Wednesday evening when overcoming a one point half time deficit to defeat St. Patrick’s by four at the end. Boosted by the return of some key players the home side turned in a much improved performance and at times played some excellent football, mixing the direct with the patient running game.
With only twenty nine seconds on the clock Seneschalstown captain Brian Sheridan kicked the opening point of the game when pointing on the run from forty metres out but this score was cancelled out within a minute when St. Pats kicked one of their own from play. Sheridan kicked another after two minutes when firing over the black spot after linking up well with brothers Damien and Joe. The tit for tat nature of the opening exchanges continued though when following a second St. Pats point Sean Noonan raised a white flag before a third effort from the Stamullen side. Noonan’s point came after he had gotten on the end of good play from Niall Lyons, Tean Cummins and Joe Sheridan.
On eight minutes Brian Sheridan sent forty five metre free sailing between the posts after a foul on lively corner forward Brendan Lynch. This score was quickly followed by a Niall Lyons point who got on the end of a move involving centre back David Matthews, Mark Fox and Brian Sheridan. This score left more than the minimum between the sides for the first time in the game. And indeed five minutes later the margin had increased to three when Sheridan sent another free over the bar when Lynch was once more fouled. The Stamullen side cut the deficit to two when their full forward beat Seneschalstown goalkeeper Wesley McDonagh to the ball but saw his fisted effort fly over the bar instead of under.
Seneschalstown were playing some lovely attacking football at this point and as the game entered its second quarter Joe Sheridan saw his point effort from out on the right squeeze inside the right hand upright for the score of the match thus far. St. Patrick’s were also playing some very enterprising football and in the nineteenth minute they rattled off a quick-fire goal and a point to edge into a one point advantage. Their goal would definitely be regarded as a soft one to concede as it came when a point effort when was a shade shy on power dropped over the Seneschalstown goalkeeper before coming to rest in the back of the net.
While that score may knock the stuffing temporarily out of some side Seneschalstown’s response was impressive. They looked to steady the ship and having regained a foothold in proceedings weren’t shy about attempting to carve out a goal opportunity of their own. And indeed that goal chance arrived minutes later but when Joe Sheridan found himself one on one with the goalie he found himself cynically taken down. What one Sheridan won another Sheridan gleefully took and Brian drove an unstoppable penalty into the top right hand corner of the goal to nudge his side back in front. From there until the half time whistle the games patter altered somewhat as St. Patrick’s began to get some dominance on proceedings and courtesy of kicking three points on the trot went in at the interval leading by 1-08 to 1-07.
Upon the games resumption Seneschalstown were quickest out of the blocks and thanks to Joe Sheridan registered the opening point of the second period when the full forward curled a fine score over from out on the left. Brian Sheridan next pointed a free before the sides were drawn level once more following a fortieth minute score by the Stamullen side. At this stage the game was very delicately poised with few in Fr. Tully Park confidently predicting an outcome but over the next six minutes Seneschalstown went on a sudden scoring spree which yielded a goal and four points as they looked to make a burst for the finishing post.
Firstly corner forward Brendan Lynch sent over a score from an acute angle before Niall Lyons nailed one from almost the same sod of turf. 2014 Minor Sean Noonan added his second point of the day before Joe Sheridan continued the scoring run. Then came the coup de grace when following a move which saw the ball moved at pace through a combination of passes out of hand and off the foot the Devenish sponsored home side scored as good a goal as one is likely to see all year. After dropping deep into his own defence helping out Noonan got his hands on the ball and after a swift interchange between himself, brother Cormac and James Byrne he gained possession once more before finding Brian Sheridan with a well-placed ball down the left wing. Sheridan then spotted Niall Lyons galloping forward and the former Meath Minor made no mistake when firing low and hard across the goal into the bottom right hand corner and give his side a seven point advantage with forty five minutes on the clock.
St. Patrick’s though were in no humour to throw in the towel and the steadily set about reducing the margin between the sides with four points in a row, three from frees to leave just three between the teams with three minutes remaining. Seneschalstown’s ship was soon steadied when captain Brian Sheridan sent a sixtieth minute free over, a score which ensured his side sail slightly further away from the relegation places.
Seneschalstown Scorers: Brian Sheridan 1-06 (0-04 Frees), Niall Lyons 1-02, Joe Sheridan 0-03, Sean Noonan 0-02, Brendan Lynch 0-01.
Seneschalstown: Wesley McDonagh, Conor Cowley, Cormac Noonan, John Smith, Mark Fox, David Matthews, James Byrne, Tean Cummins, Damien Sheridan, Niall Lyons, Brian Sheridan, Sean Noonan, Brendan Lynch, Joe Sheridan, Mark Carey.
Seneschalstown Substitutions: Robert Ruddy for T. Cummins, Stephen Finnegan for B. Lynch, Ross Howard for S. Noonan.
