Small steps lead to progress
A decade has passed since Seneschalstown last won the Senior Football Championship and their efforts to bridge the gap met with disappointment in 2004 when they were eliminated at the quarter-final stage by Trim.
It did represent something of an improvement on the previous year when the Yellow Furze combination failed to reach the knock-out stages in the battle for the Keegan Cup, but they certainly diced with death before they finally scraped through in fourth place in Group B.
Seneschalstown lost to neighbours Walterstown in their last divisional match and that left Mickey McQuillan’s team tied with his former club St. Patrick’s in fourth spot, but because they had beaten the Stamullen men in an earlier group encounter they advanced to the quarter-finals. Talk about making your supporters sweat!
Their championship campaign certainly produced a mixed back of results, though it has to be appreciated that they were without the considerable services of Graham Geraghty for the opening three rounds and he didn’t return until they played Kilmainhamwood, while that immensely talented youngster Joe Sheridan also missed part of their qualification bid.
Seneschalstown were drawn in a group that also included St. Patrick’s, Summerhill, Walterstown, the ‘Wood, Dunderry, champions Blackhall Gaels and Cortown and the opening round encounter against Dunderry was certainly of considerable interest because coach McQuillan had been in charge of that club the previous year.
Every team likes to open their campaign on a winning note to set the right tone for the championship and that’s how it turned out for Seneschalstown when the sides met at Pairc Tailteann as they edged through by 2-12 to 1-11 in a thriller.
Sheridan’s well-struck penalty five minutes from the end ultimately proved decisive on a day when Alan Finnegan played very well at full-back and Paddy O’Brien and Joe and Damien Sheridan also played significant roles in the success.
Dunderry held a narrow 1-7 to 1-6 interval advantage after Joe Sheridan had scored the Seneschalstown goal in the fourth minute and they were still a point to the good (1-11 to 1-10) well into the second-half, before McQuillan’s men closed with 1-2 to secure the points, with Sheridan also getting the second goal from that penalty.
Seneschalstown had achieved mission number one with an opening round win, but they faced the task of trying to topple reigning champions Blackhall Gaels next time out at Skryne, and without Geraghty and Sheridan at that.
And how close they came to securing a second successive win as Blackhall snatched a share of the spoils (0-8 each) thanks to a pointed free from Mark Ferris four minutes into injury-time. Seneschalstown led by 0-5 to 0-3 at half-time, but the champions recovered and forged into a 0-7 to 0-5 advantage by the three-quarter stage. However, to their credit, Seneschalstown came back for more and looked likely to triumph until Ferris intervened with that late, late leveller.
With three points in the bag from a possible four, Seneschalstown had made a bright start to the campaign, but two defeats followed which threatened to derail their bid for a qualification place.
The first came at Pairc Tailteann against a Gordon Codd-inspired Cortown who edged through by 3-7 to 1-10 on a day when Seneschalstown were without several key players. Yet, they were the better team for a greater portion of the match and it took a tremendous start to the second-half from Cortown to secure the points as Codd finished with a phenomenal personal tally of 3-6.
Seneschalstown led by 1-5 to 1-3 at the interval, after Ciaran Macken had goaled brilliantly, but Cortown notched 2-3 at the start of the second period and that made so much difference. However, the losers did have chances near the end and had claims for a late penalty controversially turned down. They battled away, but it just wasn’t to be.
With Geraghty and Sheridan back for the fourth round meeting with Kilmainhamwood at Kells, hopes had to be high that they would bounce back with a victory, but it didn’t work out that way as the north Meath side won by 0-12 to 0-8 after leading by 0-8 to 0-5 at the interval. Again, Seneschalstown had chances which weren’t taken, but the same applied to the ‘Wood.
The fifth round victory over St. Patrick’s at Duleek was to prove so important in the long run in terms of Seneschalstown qualifying for the knock-out stages. Geraghty’s second-half contribution, as he roamed very effectively, was decisive in a 0-11 to 0-8 success after they had held a 0-7 to 0-3 advantage at the break. It was a victory that enabled the Yellow Furze men to leapfrog Pat’s in the table.
When Seneschalstown defeated Summerhill by 3-5 to 1-6 in the sixth round at Dunsany they had greatly enhanced their qualification prospects. Geraghty was late arriving and didn’t start a match played in difficult conditions, but they still won comfortably as Joe Sheridan played superbly.
Seneschalstown looked to be well on their way to victory when leading by 2-1 to 0-1 after Gary Conlon and Sheridan (penalty) had found the net and they were in front by double scores (2-4 to 1-2) at half-time. Sheridan’s second goal four minutes after the change of ends secured the win.
Any match between neighbours Seneschalstown and Walterstown can be expected to produce exciting action, but that’s not how it worked out in the final round of group matches at Skryne as the Blacks inflicted a 1-9 to 0-6 defeat after holding a 1-6 to 0-4 lead at the break. Seneschalstown never led and failed to lift their game to any great heights as they managed only two points from play over the hour but, despite that comprehensive loss, they still scraped through to the business end of the championship.
However, the poor nature of their showing against Walterstown had to be something of a concern as they prepared for a quarter-final meeting with a Trim side which had taken the competition by storm and which was the fancy of many people to achieve outright success.
Trim were favourites to win that meeting at Dunsany and they did so as Seneschalstown suffered another six-point defeat (1-8 to 4-5). But they certainly weren’t as far off the pace as that final score line might suggest and it took a two-goal salvo early in the last quarter to steer Trim firmly in the direction of the semi-finals.
Seneschalstown started brightly and a Sheridan goal helped them to lead by 1-2 to 0-2 after eight minutes, but Trim hit back to hold a 2-4 to 1-4 advantage at half-time. The third-quarter was close, but those two goals aided Trim considerably, pushing them seven points clear, and Sheridan’s late penalty miss was of little consequence.
The dream of adding to their Keegan Cup triumphs in 1972 and ’94 goes on for Seneschalstown, but they will have to wait for at least another year.
“The lads were very disappointed after we lost the quarter-final to Trim,” Seneschalstown player Damien Sheridan commented. “We really felt we had a great chance in this year’s championship. There was a very good feeling in the camp from the start. We are a very tight-knit group, we play for each other and expectations were high.
“But, unfortunately, we didn’t take a lot of our chances against Trim and gave away four goals. We just didn’t perform on the day, simple as that. Simonstown went on to beat Trim very easily in the semi-final and I suppose that made us look quite poor. But I really believe that we aren’t that far off the pace. I felt the championship was very close overall this year.”
Of course, Seneschalstown had to play part of the championship without the considerable talents of Graham Geraghty and Joe Sheridan.
“Being without such big players has to have an affect on the team, that’s inevitable,” Damien added. “But the lads really upped their performances for the sake of the team and they were also aware that there were places to fight for. They wanted to prove themselves. Nobody wanted to let the team down.”
In some ways, Seneschalstown’s Senior Championship form was a bit strange, somewhat inconsistent perhaps. They should have beaten then reigning champions Blackhall Gaels, with whom they drew, but flopped against Walterstown in the final round of group matches.
“Going into the game against Walterstown I think we believed we were already through to the quarter-finals,” Damien said. “But then we were lucky to qualify after that defeat when we just scraped through.
“But, looking to the future, it’s all about building on what we have done so far. This is generally a very young panel of players. For example, I’m only 23 and Joe is just 20.
“It’s getting better each year and this year has to be looked on as a step further than last year because we reached the quarter-finals. Many small steps can lead to one big step. That has to be the way we look at it.”
Hey Joe
Many expected Seneschalstown to struggle in 2004 but the Yellow Furze side refused to roll over meekly, instead forcing their way to the knockout stage of the SFC, where they gave Trim a right run for their money. As long as there are players of the calibre of Joe Sheridan on the scene, Seneschalstown will remain genuine Keegan Cup contenders.
It hurt. People were writing Seneschalstown off. Saying they were a spent force, a thing of the past, a team in rapid decline. Their glory days were behind them and they would struggle in 2004. Some even went so far as to suggest that the Yellow Furze men might surrender their senior status. It hurt.
It hurt the players. In Seneschalstown, they firmly believe that they still have a great deal to offer senior football in the Royal County. With quality footballers like Graham Geraghty, Alan Finnegan, and Joe Sheridan at their disposal, they are more than capable of making their presence felt.
They proved it in ’04.
The latter-mentioned player says Seneschalstown went all out to reach the county final in 2004. He also vows that they will do the same again next year. The gifted full forward insists that the doomsayers have got it all wrong and Seneschalstown are determined to prove their point. Like a wounded animal, they could emerge as serious contenders for major silverware in ’05.
“Maybe next year,” the county attacker notes. “We have Paudgie Coyle coming back from America to take over the team and he knows his stuff, so we’re hoping to do well. I think people have yet to see the best of this team. Apart from a few older lads like Graham, Alan and Colin [Clarke], the average age is only 24/25 and there’s great potential there if we build on it. We’ll give it our best shot again next season and there’s no reason why we can’t do very well.”
What’s a realistic target? The knockout stage of the SFC? Or can Seneschalstown go further? “Realistically, we have to be looking at a county final. We definitely want to get past the qualifying stage and into the knockout stage. If you’re good enough to get out of the group, then you’re good enough to play in the final. Every senior team should have aspirations of winning the Keegan Cup and I think that’s what Seneschalstown should be aiming towards. There’s not much point going into a competition if you don’t try to win it.”
Seneschalstown almost surprised Trim in their quarter-final tie in 2004. Though they went into the game as underdogs, they were bitterly disappointed to lose out. The players wanted to be involved on county final day and Joe firmly believed they were good enough to get that far: “The county final is the big day. It’s the stage every footballer in the county wants to perform on. It’s time we got there again. There’s an ambition in the club to get to the county final and we were very disappointed following the quarter-final defeat. After all the effort the lads put in, it was an anti-climax.”
That match took place in the first week of September and the nature of Seneschalstown’s defeat was frustrating. Over the hour, they gave as good as they got but the concession of some soft scores cost Mickey McQuillan’s side dearly as they slipped to a 4-5 to 1-8 exit. “We were expecting to beat Trim but it just didn’t happen,” Joe reveals.
Though Seneschalstown may have surpassed many people’s expectations of them by getting so close to a semi-final berth, they failed to meet their own target. “We set out to get to a semi-final or a final. We always wanted to qualify for the county final and we’re definitely disappointed that we didn’t get that far. You have to expect to get to a final.
“We were supposedly drawn in the weaker group and we just about managed to get out of it. We hadn’t had a full team all year though, up until the Trim game, and we were a bit unlucky in the quarter-final. We should have got further ahead than we did, and they had the legs on us in the second half. They were the better team on the day, to be fair, but we were disappointed in our own performance because we gave away some sloppy goals and they made a huge difference to the result.
“Trim came through the qualifiers unbeaten and that set them out as favourites to win the championship. When we were drawn against them, the general opinion was that we were going to get hockeyed. But we never believed that for a minute and we went into the game fully believing that we could progress to the semi-final. We were quite close, but you can’t concede four goals in a championship game and hope to get away with it.”
Seneschalstown opened their campaign with a 2-12 to 1-11 win over Dunderry and drew their next group game with defending champions Blackhall Gaels, 0-8 apiece. Back-to-back defeats to Cortown (3-7 to 1-10) and Kilmainhamwood (0-12 to 0-8) were followed by consecutive victories over St Patrick’s (0-11 to 0-8) and Summerhill (3-5 to 1-6) but the final group game also ended in defeat, 1-9 to 0-6, at the hands of Walterstown. Thus, the Yellow Furze crew finished their programme with seven points out of a possible 14, just about edging through to the last eight.
“On the whole, we had a lot of good performances over the year and there is the makings of a very good team there. We have a very young team, with five or six of the first team also on the U21 side that reached the U21 decider [a game that had not yet been played at the time of going to press]. Things are shaping up nicely and maybe this year we’ll go even better than we did last year.
“We were written off but Mickey brought his experience into the team and we made a good start. We exceeded the expectations of many people, but not ourselves because we were hoping to push for the Keegan Cup.
“It was unbelievable how many people wrote us off. Even the media had us as favourites to be relegated. It’s always the same. But we proved them wrong.”
The Seneschalstown U21s, meanwhile, did superbly to reach a third successive county final, wherein they were due to meet Navan O’Mahonys on Sunday November 21. Due to the restraints of meeting deadlines, ‘Royal County 2004’ went to the printers before that match took place, but Joe Sheridan (also a star player during the year with UCD in the Sigerson Cup and the Dublin U21 championship) and his team-mates were hoping for a piece of silverware:
“The last thing we won was a Feis Cup four or five years ago, so we could do with a boost. Our ladies have been doing really well but the lads need to pick themselves up again because Seneschalstown is a big club and we haven’t been living up to our name.”
Despite his tender years, Joe has been a first-team regular with Seneschalstown for five years already. Amazingly, he actually started out in goals with the club. However, since his move outfield, he has been wreaking havoc at the other end of the pitch.
Full forward for Meath in the 2002 All-Ireland minor final, Joe established himself on the county senior panel in 2004. How’s that going? “Hopefully we’re going to get the right blend. We were very unlucky against Fermanagh and I think there’s great talent in the county. We should see a few more lads coming through next year and we’ll be hoping to get to the All-Ireland final.
Meath football needs a good run and we can do it.
“Meath football has been written off but it could be a great year for us. I’m very hopeful about the prospects of both Seneschalstown and Meath in 2005. They are two good sides, so it’s a matter of going out and making sure we don’t leave anything behind us.”
Sounds like Joe Sheridan is raring to go in ’05. Seneschalstown and Meath have much to be thankful for.
