LMFM Minor League Division 3 Round 2
Seneschalstown 5-12 Drumconrath/Meath Hill 4-18
The scores came thick and fast in Fr. Tully Park on Saturday afternoon with the sides contributing thirty-nine scores between them but it was the visiting Drumconrath/Meath Hill combination who managed to get a few more over the hour and headed back to North Meath with the points when Liam O’Brien sounded the final whistle.
LMFM Minor League Division 3 Round 2
Seneschalstown 5-12 Drumconrath/Meath Hill 4-18
The scores came thick and fast in Fr. Tully Park on Saturday afternoon with the sides contributing thirty-nine scores between them but it was the visiting Drumconrath/Meath Hill combination who managed to get a few more over the hour and headed back to North Meath with the points when Liam O’Brien sounded the final whistle.
Throughout the match which was played at thirteen a side at the behest of the visitors both sides played wonderfully open football and seemed to have an ability to create scoring opportunities at will with both goalkeepers earning their supper as they pulled off a string of fine saves and seemed to perpetually be in something of a duel as anything Keith Waters pulled off the Drumconrath/Meath Hill goalkeeper seemed determined to outdo.
Trailing by six points at half time Seneschalstown did manage to whittle the deficit back down during the second half but despite kicking five goals during the game they found the visiting goalkeeper a formidable opponent as he pulled off some breath-taking stops.
Despite Joseph Moore hitting the opening point of the game it was Drumconrath/Meath Hill who got off to the brighter start and by the tenth minute they had forged into a 1-03 to 0-01 lead which could have been greater were it not for a smart stop from Waters between the Seneschalstown posts. The diminutive Cathal Finnegan whittled the gap between the sides back down to two points when after clever play from Alan Mulvany he beat the goalkeeper at his near post with a well taken finish.
The Drumconrath/Meath Hill response to this goal was to surge up the field and point but centerfield man Robert Wogan then opened his account for the day when he received a pass from Finnegan and tapped over. The home side though were rocked on the quarter hour when the North Meath combination rattled in their second goal which left a double score margin between the sides, Drumconrath/Meath Hill 2-04 Seneschalstown 1-02. Whenever Seneschalstown managed to get the ball to Cathal Finnegan he was able to cause some damage and from practically the right hand sideline he soon swung over a gem of a point.
Drumconrath/Meath Hill were in full flow and on seventeen minutes they raised another white flag before hitting three in a row between the twenty first and twenty fifth minutes with just a Robert Wogan free from a mile out being registered for the side in yellow on nineteen minutes. Just as he had done on Tuesday night when he raised a green flag with a brilliant goal against Longwood/Clonard Joseph Moore hit a peach of a goal to breathe life back into the Seneschalstown outfit but the Drumconrath/Meath Hill response was most impressive as they racked up 1-03 in reply, the goal coming at the second time of asking after Keith Waters had stopped the initial effort.
This left nine points between the teams and despite Seneschalstown having any advantage that there is of playing down the slope towards the railway line to come in the second half they would have been looking for something to boost the humour before the interval and remarkably they were to get it when in stoppage time Cathal Finnegan was picked out by Louis Healy from a free kick and upon receiving possession the corner forward sized up his options. Deciding that the best option was to head for goal he skinned the corner back before rifling the O’Neills ball past the despairing goalie.
Now there was just the six points between the teams and the Seneschalstown tails were up a bit more. But the million-dollar question remained to be answered over the second thirty minutes, would their tails be wagging at the end of the hour?
When the game resumed just as they had done in the first half Seneschalstown picked off the opening point when after being picked out by a Robert Wogan free Cathal Finnegan split the uprights. Drumconrath/Meath Hill soon cancelled this score out with one of their own but Finnegan was in sparkling form and he curled over another when Marc Horrigan did well to work the ball back out to him from a seemingly sticky situation. The scores were coming tit for tat at this stage of the game and unsurprisingly the side in white replied with a point of their own from play.
The spirit of the home side couldn’t be doubted though and when Finnegan drifted out the field he drew a foul and taking the resultant free quickly he picked out Eoin Finnegan who then transferred possession onto Joseph Moore. Moore burst through powerfully and took on the goal chance but when his effort was excellently saved the always alert Alan Mulvany was quickest to react and he flicked the loose ball into the empty net. Straight away Seneschalstown created another goal scoring opportunity but Robert Wogan took the percentage option and he chipped over. Joseph Moore then lofted over off his left peg and suddenly the margin between the teams was down to just the solitary point, Seneschalstown 4-09 Drumconrath/Meath Hill 3-13.
Drumconrath/Meath Hill steadied their ship with a well taken point on forty-three minutes but within seconds could have been behind only for their goalkeeper to once more pull off a superb stop, this time from Marc Horrigan who couldn’t believe the ball wasn’t nestling in the bottom of the net. Eoin Finnegan was now operating a bit closer to goal and he hit the next two points, the second following a delightful crossfield pass from the left footed wizard Sean Carey. This once more left just the one point between the sides.
Drumconrath/Meath Hill were not to be outdone and in two minutes they soon extended that one-point lead back out to six when they hit a quick-fire goal and two points. Eoin Finnegan whose sister Orla had earlier played for Meath Ladies U-14’s in the Leinster Championship brought the gap back to five when he popped over a well taken point before younger brother Cathal brought up his hat trick following good play from Robert Wogan. Two more points from play from Drumconrath/Meath Hill pushed their lead back out to three points but Seneschalstown could have snatched a draw at the death only for a goal bound shot to be tipped over following a desperate lunge at the ball from a defender.
This was a most entertaining math which left both sides with deeply contrasting emotions at its closure. Drumconrath/Meath Hill were thrilled with the victory and relieved to have held out while Seneschalstown were left to rue a number of errors which they will feel hampered their bid to secure the two points on offer.
They will however draw positives from the Minor debut of Sean Commons while Keith Waters, Joseph Moore and Cathal Finnegan were others to show up well.
Seneschalstown: Keith Waters, Eoin O’Reilly, Louis Healy, Sean Carey, Richard McKeown, Brian Maguire, Robert Wogan (0-03, 0-01 Free), Daire Finnegan, Joseph Moore (1-02), Eoin Finnegan (0-03), Alan Mulvany (1-00), Cathal Finnegan (3-03), Marc Horrigan.
Seneschalstown Substitution: Sean Commons for L. Healy, Dylan Doyle (0-01) for M. Horrigan
