Sun 18th Nov Seneschalstown 0-10 St. Vincents 1-12
FOR the third year in-a-row Dublin opposition put paid to Meath`s ambitions of Leinster Club SFC glory when St Vincent`s proved too strong for Seneschalstown in Sunday`s quarter-final replay at Pairc Tailteann.
Sun 18th Nov Seneschalstown 0-10 St. Vincents 1-12
FOR the third year in-a-row Dublin opposition put paid to Meath`s ambitions of Leinster Club SFC glory when St Vincent`s proved too strong for Seneschalstown in Sunday`s quarter-final replay at Pairc Tailteann.
The margin of victory flattered the Dublin champions because as the game headed for injury-time they held a slender 0-11 to 0-10 lead and extra-time looked on the cards until they enjoyed two huge slices of good fortune. A `Mossy` Quinn sideline dropped on the edge of the square and Kevin Golden got the slightest of touches to help the ball bounce over the bar. Moments later Quinn`s poor point attempt deceived David Lyons and dropped into the net at the far post. It was a devastating blow for Seneschalstown and left them with no time to recover. It was cruel luck on a team that once again showed tremendous heart, spirit and conviction.
However, St Vincent`s proved that more than pure determination is needed to win games. They were the deserving winners because they played the sweeter football, but Seneschalstown contributed to a gripping encounter.
There were periods, especially in the opening quarter, when St Vincent`s looked like mauling tigers playing with a ball of string. They had a sluggish Seneschalstown side at their mercy, but they couldn`t finish them off. If you don`t finish off Seneschalstown when you have your chances then you should expect to pay the price and St Vincent`s almost did because once Seneschalstown settled and were still in the game they lorded proceedings for long periods.
Seneschalstown`s pattern of play may have been one dimensional, but St Vincent`s still struggled to cope with it at times. The Marino club needed to be at their best to quell the threat of Seneschalstown`s attack and they did that by flooding their back line.
With very little space or time on offer Seneschalstown struggled to break the ball into advantageous areas and with as many as 12 men inside their own 45-metre line St Vincent`s crowded the Meath side out and cleared the danger.
Another factor in St Vincent`s victory was that Seneschalstown never came to grips with the outstanding Tiernan Diamond. The Dublin champions centre-forward ran the show, but he was afforded the freedom of Pairc Tailteann and punished Seneschalstown.
Cormac Quinn rarely got close to Diamond. Instead he opted to hold his centre-back position and that allowed Diamond come deep, claim possession at his ease and carve openings.
St Vincent`s squandered many decent opportunities. The kicked a dozen wides over the hour and wasted a few other decent chances with over-elaboration. Seneschalstown, on the other hand, were finding chances difficult to come by.
After missing a couple of decent goal chances early on they depended on Brian Sheridan frees to keep them in contention during the opening period. St Vincent`s closed them down and rarely gave them an opportunity from play as Hugh Gill, Eoin Brady and Paul Conlon had outstanding games.
Seneschalstown were dependent on winning ball at midfield and pumping in possession to Joe Sheridan. Too often they were thwarted by illegal tactics, but Brian Sheridan punished St Vincent`s to ensure that the Meath side were always in contention.
In the end tired limbs told. Seneschalstown found it harder to work back in defence in the closing five minutes and while their winning scores were fortunate St Vincent`s looked the more capable side.
It threatened to be a one-sided encounter during the opening quarter. Diarmuid Connolly gave St Vincent`s the lead inside 30 seconds and by the 16th minute that advantage was stretched to 0-5 to 0-1 with further points from Golden (two), Connolly and Maloney.Quinn also struck the crossbar with a fierce drive and Hugh Coughlan hit the upright when it was easier to score. Seneschalstown`s only reply was from a Brian Sheridan free after Damien Sheridan had been fouled, but Ciaran Macken had a couple of goal chances that were squandered. During that period Seneschalstown were cleaned out at midfield and no breaks were going their way. However, then Damien Sheridan and Robert Ruddy started to swing the tide.
A brace of 20-metre frees from Brian Sheridan was followed by a Joe Sheridan point that was gifted by Ger Brennan.
Brian Sheridan restored parity with another free and four minutes before the break Joe Sheridan had a goalbound shot brilliantly saved by Michael Savage. Had the full-forward looked up he would have seen Ruddy better placed to tap to an empty net. However, on such moments games can hinge. Brian Clarke kicked a 47-metre free to give Seneschalstown the lead for the only time as Diamond capped a brilliant first-half with a point to ensure the sides were level 0-6 each at the break.
St Vincent`s started the second-half as they began the first, in total control. It was only their wayward shooting that allowed Seneschalstown stay in contention. After three wides in the opening two minutes of the second-half Neil Billings finally edged the Dublin side ahead, but a brilliant point from Clarke levelled matters again. That parity didn`t last long as St Vincent`s turned the screw. Diamond made it 0-8 to 0-7 before two Quinn frees left Seneschalstown three points adrift. Conor Brady saw a great goal chance sail wide before poor defensive play allowed Quinn make it 0-11 to 0-7 with six minutes remaining.
Brian Sheridan restored hope for Seneschalstown with two frees and on the hour mark Gary Conlon side-footed the ball over the bar to leave the minimum between the teams. A thrilling finish was guaranteed, but unfortunately for Seneschalstown it was St Vincent`s who had all the luck. The absence of Andrew McCann through injury left the Meath side short of some crucial experience and in the closing minutes it was freak scores that sent St Vincent`s marching into a semi-final meeting with Portlaoise.
Scorers — St Vincent’s: T Quinn 1-3 (2f), K Golden 0-3, T Diamond and D Connolly 0-2 each N Billings and B Maloney 0-1 each. Seneschalstown: B Sheridan 0-6 (6f), B Clarke 0-2, J Sheridan and G Conlon 0-1 each.
St Vincent’s — M Savage; P Conlon, E Brady, H Gill; T Doyle, G Brennan, P Kelly; H Coughlan, M O’Shea; K Golden, T Diamond, N Billings; B Maloney, D Connolly, T Quinn. Subs: P Gilroy for Billings (38), C Brady for Connolly (inj, 51), R Trainor for Golden (64).
Seneschalstown — D Lyons; S Sheridan, A Collins, J Byrne; M Carey, C Quinn, C Gleeson; R Ruddy, D Sheridan; D Byrne, C Macken, J Cowley; B Clarke, J Sheridan, B Sheridan. Subs: G Conlon for D Byrne (45), G Sheridan for Gleeson (52), S Clarke for Cowley (58), W Smyth for J Byrne (62).
Ref — J Bannon (Longford).
