Seamus Connolly Catering Meath Junior B Football Championship
Seneschalstown 0-12 Gaeil Colmcille 1-09
When referee Peter O’Halloran blew the whistle to signal the end of a tightly contested Junior B Football Championship clash on a damp Friday evening Seneschalstown were left to regret their profligacy in front of the posts as they tallied sixteen wides and had also dropped a couple of efforts short as the match ended up all square.
Seamus Connolly Catering Meath Junior B Football Championship
Seneschalstown 0-12 Gaeil Colmcille 1-09
When referee Peter O’Halloran blew the whistle to signal the end of a tightly contested Junior B Football Championship clash on a damp Friday evening Seneschalstown were left to regret their profligacy in front of the posts as they tallied sixteen wides and had also dropped a couple of efforts short as the match ended up all square.
Fielding a team shorn of four of the side which had excelled in Round 2 of the championship against Moynalvey a good start was vital and while the team in blue did raise the first flag of the day Gaeil Colmcille made the early running when registering 1-02 in the first twelve minutes of the game.
Lively wing forward Adam Gleeson opened the Seneschalstown account after only four minutes but the Kells men soon took charge. A thirteen metre free was converted before goalkeeper Wesley McDonagh was adjudged to have committed a foul and from the resultant penalty the ball was placed low to his right and into the bottom corner of the net. Gaeil Colmcille’s first point from play followed up in the twelfth minute to ensure they ended the first quarter in the driving seat with a four point advantage.
James Conlon latched onto an excellent cross field ball from raiding wing back Adam Carey before turning and shooting off his left foot from in front of the posts before the Kells men hit back with a dipping effort which just dropped over the bar. Shane Clarke then picked off his first of the evening when converting a free.
The closing ten minutes of the half saw the deficit facing Seneschalstown increase as they were outscored by three points to one. Their very accurate free taker converted a fine effort from forty five metres out before in the twenty seventh minute they picked off another effort from play. Sandwiched in between these efforts Seneschalstown were within inches of a glorious lifeline when Neil Darby saw a fisted effort come back off the crossbar following a lovely team move which eventually saw the ball passed across the square for Darby to get his fist to the ball.
Adam Gleeson then scored his second point of the half after a powerful run before the scoring in the opening period was brought to a close with a Kells effort from play to leave Seneschalstown five points in arrears and with plenty of work to do to take something from the match.
Having made one switch at the interval with Eamon Sheridan replacing Tean Cummins, David Matthews moved out field from his full back berth and this switch along with whatever words manager David Hosie imparted to the team appeared to have had the desired effect when they rattled off six points on the bounce in the opening eleven minutes of the half to go one ahead.
From the throw in Conlon added to his first half point with another before Neil Darby quickly added another. Shane Clarke then tagged on his second after excellent work from Kevin Casey at midfield, Gleeson and Paul McDonnell.
Gleeson continued the run when after being fouled almost fifty metres out from the posts he received the ball from a quickly taken Clarke free before launching the ball between the uprights at the road end of the ground. James Conlon then scored a fine individual point after soloing the ball in along the end line before fisting over the bar from a narrow angle before Clarke brought the purple patch to a close with a well taken forty five metre free.
The men from the North Meath town got back to parity and then edged one ahead once more with a pointed free and an effort from play inside a minute just prior to the three quarter mark.
Gleeson then brought his tally for the evening to four from play with another equaliser before Conlon also grabbed his fourth after the goalkeeper had tipped over his viciously dipping shot to leave Seneschalstown one ahead but far from in the driving seat.
Nerves on both sides began to fray and Damien McDonnell was forced to rescue his side after the ball had been dropped in the Seneschalstown full back line from a high ball in before he scooped it off the goal line. Then, as the stopwatches moved just past the hour mark Gaeil Colmcille’s excellent free taker was given an opportunity from a hotly contested free to level things up and holding his nerve he expertly floated the ball over the bar to ensure his side a share of the spoils.
While in their Round 2 victory over Moynalvey everything that could go right for Seneschalstown did the opposite would definitely appear to be true for this match. Uncharacteristically they were to register many more missed opportunities than scores and had the radar been working better they would likely have attained the two points their dominance warranted.
Seneschalstown Scorers: Adam Gleeson and James Conlon 0-04, Shane Clarke 0-03 (0-02 Frees), Neil Darby 0-01.
Seneschalstown: Wesley McDonagh, David Byrne, David Matthews, Damien McDonnell, Mark Fox, Gerard McKendry, Adam Carey, Kevin Casey, Tean Cummins, Neil Darby, Jonathan Gilsenan, Adam Gleeson, Shane Clarke, Paul McDonnell, James Conlon.
Seneschalstown Substitutions: Eamon Sheridan for T. Cummins, Robert Darby for N. Darby, David Hosie for P. McDonnell.
