P.R. Coyne & Sons Football League Division 1 Round 2
Seneschalstown 0-13 Na Fianna 1-14
Seneschalstown went down a second consecutive defeat in the P.R Coyne & Sons Football League Division 1 after a fightback from hosts Na Fianna in Baconstown. Seneschalstowmn will be left to rue some poor shot selections in the opening half when backed by a strong breeze, and ultimately the home side punished them in the second period making good use of the two point arc, raising three orange flags in a row just before the three quarter mark which left Seneschalstown with just too much to do.
Seneschalstown were forced into a number of changes from last week and didn’t have a massive squad available to play for a multitude of reasons. There were five changes to the starting line up from the Ballinabrackey game in Round 1.
Na Fianna opened the scoring inside the first minute with a point from play. Seneschalstown’s first score arrived in the third minute from Alan Mulvany when he pointed from the left hand side following some good interplay from Robbie Finnegan and Donie Commons. Na Fianna kicked two points in a row to move as many ahead by the seventh minute.
Seneschalstown began to gain a foothold and have the lion’s share of possession for the remainder of the half but had to wait until the 18th minute for their second point when goalkeeper Jamie Norris came forward to kick a ’45. Éamon Finnegan did well moments later to bring his side level, weaving his way around a number of challenges to kick between the posts.
Seneschalstown hit the front for the first time in the 20th minute when after being fouled himself, Cian Hosie kicked a two point free to nudge the Yellow Furze men in front. They doubled down on this within 90 seconds when Alan Mulvany kicked a two pointer from the apex of the new arc. Seneschalstown were unlucky with a couple of goal efforts during this period with Dylan Keating having an effort saved by the Na Fianna keeper, while he also saw another flash across the face of goal. To compound matters for the number 13, he was forced off injured minutes later.
Cian Hosie converted the free arising from the challenge which forced Keating to depart to move five ahead but in first half injury time, Seneschasltown were rocked back on their heels when a Na Fianna shot looked like it was going across the face of Jamie Norris’ goal but there was a Na Fianna player well placed to palm into the net. To Seneschasltown’s credit, they did have the last of the half when the hard working Neil Darby curled over from a tight angle inside the 20 metre line which left Seneschalstown three points up at the break.
Na Fianna reduced the margin with the opening point of the second period in the 34th minute but Seneschalstown answered at the other end with a Cian Hosie free in the 37th minute. A Na Fianna point in the 39th minute set in motion a spell of dominance for the home side, three two point effiorts on the spin inside four second half minutes moved them from two down to two up by the 47th minute and another white flag with ten minutes to go left them five points up.
Éamon Finnegan looked to reignite Seneschalstown’s charge when he got in along the endline to smartly fist over but a fourth two point effort for Na Fianna with seven minutes to go left Seneschalstown with a mountain to climb late on.
They didn’t lie down but again their accuracy in front of the posts let them down even if one effort was harshly adjudged to have gone wide when it looked on target. Jamie Norris kicked a late two point free into the wind but Seneschalstown could not get close enough and left the south of the county with nothing to show for their efforts.
Round 3 sees Seneschalstown return to home comforts as they welcome 2024 county finalists Wolfe Tones to Fr. Tully Park on Thursday April 3rd.
Seneschalstown: Jamie Norris (0-03, 1 tpf, 1 ’45), Mattie Cowley, Danny Waters, Conor McDonnell, Liam Dillon, Cormac Carolan, Neil Darby (0-01), Ronan Conneely, Donie Commons, Bradley Kirwan, Alan Mulvany (0-03, 1 tp), Éamon Finnegan (0-02), Dylan Keating, Cian Hosie (0-04, 1 tpf, 2 fs), Robbie Finnegan.
Sub: Eoghan McGauran for Keating
