All County Football A League Division 1 Round 6
Seneschalstown 2-10 Simonstown Gaels 2-10
On most occasions when the second match on a double bill provides eighteen less scores than the curtain raiser it is viewed as a poor match but on this occasion the crowd in Fr. Tully Park were treated to two excellent matches as like the preceding U-14 clash this A League Round 6 match was in the melting pot right until the death when a last gasp goal into the railway end from a free levelled matters for the last time.
All County Football A League Division 1 Round 6
Seneschalstown 2-10 Simonstown Gaels 2-10
On most occasions when the second match on a double bill provides eighteen less scores than the curtain raiser it is viewed as a poor match but on this occasion the crowd in Fr. Tully Park were treated to two excellent matches as like the preceding U-14 clash this A League Round 6 match was in the melting pot right until the death when a last gasp goal into the railway end from a free levelled matters for the last time.
Fresh from their emphatic victory over Rathkenny last week in the Feis Cup Seneschalstown were eager to find a victory which would help ease themselves away from the relegation dogfight but alas were forced to settle for a share of the spoils.
The opening exchanges were tight as both sides probed for openings before Joe Sheridan raised the first white flag of the match on six minutes when flicking a pass from Ciaran Macken into his hands and pointing. Immediately the men from the Proudstown Road hit back when pointing twice from play inside a minute before continuing their blitz when grabbing a goal in the tenth minute. These scores were followed up by two more before the twentieth minute had elapsed with one coming from play and another from a free after Ross Howard was penalised for fouling the ball as he looked to carry it out of his defence.
The home outfit began to get a foothold in the game soon after when Bryan Clarke split the posts with a sixty metre free off the ground before getting an almost instantaneous second when fielding the kickout and kicking over the blackspot. Joe Sheridan has been finding the back of the net with some regularity recently and it was he who grabbed Seneschalstown’s opening goal when latching onto a ball in from Mark Carey after good work out the field from James Meade and driving the ball low and hard into the bottom left hand corner.
The two sides exchanged a point apiece in the closing moments of the half with Carey cancelling out a pointed free when scoring a trademark point from out near the right hand sideline following good work from influential midfielder Brian Sheridan to leave the minimum between the sides at the interval.
The opening moments of the second half mirrored the closing minutes of the opening when another pointed effort from Carey cancelled out a pointed Simonstown effort from play. Simonstown quickly added on two further points when their lively centre forward tapped over a brace before Seneschalstown grabbed their second goal of the match.
Brian Sheridan, taking a quick sideline kick let the ball fly in the direction on the sky blues goal and after the ball had bounced who was to get his hands on it but goal poacher Howard who quickly turned and pilfered another goal to bring the two sides back to equilibrium.
Clarke continued to display his prowess from long range frees when converting another effort from sixty metres after Howard was caught late out on the right hand side before converting a forty five after Joe Sheridan had a point blank effort blocked out following an excellent long delivery from Clarke.
The game continued to ebb and flow as Simonstown tagged on a point to stay in touch before Clarke picked off three on the bounce to put four between the sides. Firstly he notched a superb individual point when controlling the ball on the ground before curling an effort over the bar before dusting himself down after a foul to convert another free after some good interplay with Joe Sheridan. His third effort then arrived when he split the posts with another long range free after a foul on Sheridan.
As the preceding game illustrated a game is never over until the final whistle and the Simonstown men kept within touching distance when pointing another free before in stoppage time they lobbed a free into the square which somehow squiremed out of the grasp of Seneschalstown goalkeeper David Lyons and across the line inspite of his best efforts at scrambling to keep it out. This was harsh on Lyons who had earlier pulled off some good stops to keep out the opposition forwards.
There was very little time left on the clock and referee Colm McManus soon decided enough was enough and sounded the whistle to end a closely contested match. Next up for Seneschalstown is another league match against Wolfe Tones in Fr. Tully Park on Wednesday at 20:00.
Seneschalstown Scorers: Bryan Clarke 0-07 (0-04 Frees, 0-01 ’45), Joe Sheridan 1-01, Ross Howard 1-00, Mark Carey 0-02.
Seneschalstown: David Lyons, Niall Groome, David Matthews, Niall McCabe, Mark Carey, Paul Carey, James Byrne, Brian Sheridan, Damien Sheridan, Ross Howard, Ciaran Macken, Kevin Casey, James Meade, Joe Sheridan, Bryan Clarke.
Seneschalstown Substitutions: James Conlon for N. McCabe, David Hosie for C. Macken, Jonathan Gilsenan for R. Howard.
