Meath Junior D Football Championship Semi-Final

Seneschalstown 0-13
Ballinlough 4-06

Seneschalstown's hopes of reaching the Junior D Championship Final for the second year in a row came to a shuddering halt in Simonstown on Thursday evening when they lost out to Ballinlough by five points. This result would have scarcely seemed likely when after forty three minutes the team in blue led by six points and Ballinlough hadn't troubled the scoreboard operator since the seventeenth minute. However the old adage that goals win games proved to be correct and three Ballinlough goals in the closing fifteen minutes secured them their passage to the final.

The men from the banks of the Boyne were the first team to score when Ronan Conneely pointed after getting on the end of a move started by Steven Dillon who had gathered possession in his half back line before finding James Gillic in space out on the left. Gillic carried the ball infield before drawing a defender and slipping the ball to Conneely to point.

Ballinlough though found themselves in front after six minutes when after winning a penalty the ball was sent into the bottom left corner of Shane Corbally's goal. Aled Ingman brought Seneschalstown back to within a point with a free after a foul on Colin Lynch before two points in a row from the North Meath outfit, one of which came from a free. As a result of the tackle which led to the free Seneschalstown were forced into a reshuffle of their lineout as corner back and captain Louis McAuley was forced off the field with a knock. Darragh Keogh, normally a midfielder, came on at wing forward with Conneely dropping back into the full back line.

Dillon then got his first point after linking up well with Ingman. A few moments confusion arose after the one umpire waved his shot wide and the other awarding the point before referee Gerry McGivney gave the signal for the white flag to be raised. Ingman then tapped over a thirteen metre free following a foul on Darragh Keogh before Brendan Lynch tied the game up after he carried the ball in from the left hand sideline to fire over the bar after he had been picked out in space by corner back John Muldoon.

Ingman then kicked his third point of the half and first from play to send Seneschalstown into the lead by one after getting on the end of a move involving Brendan Lynch and Eddie Meade. This score in the twenty ninth minute left the scoreboard reading Seneschalstown 0-06 Ballinlough 1-02.

Having kicked the last four points of the first half Seneschalstown kicked the opening one of the second when Ingman notched his second from play. Having claimed possession from the throw in he laid possession off to Brendan Lynch, Lynch then fed Meade who returned it to Ingman to kick over the bar. Colin Lynch extended his sides lead to three when splitting the posts at the end of a move which owed much to the persistence of full forward Meade. Having prevented the ball from going out over the endline he battled had to retain possession before getting the ball back out the field to Brendan Lynch. Lynch then kicked the ball infield to Muldoon, now operating further up the field, who hand passed to Colin Lynch in space to split the posts.

Four minutes later Lynch curled over a fine free into the teeth of the stiff breeze after a trip on Meade. Steven Dillon then grabbed his second of the match. After a cleverly worked short forty five with Ingman he carried the ball strongly, breaking through a couple of strong tackles before grabbing an inspirational point.

In the forty fourth minute Seneschalstown extended their advantage to six points when Darragh Keogh pointed from an acute angle after reacting quickest when Brendan Lynch's shot for goal came back into play off the butt of the left hand upright. In hindsight though this turned out to be a major turning point as instead of finding themselves eight points in the ascendancy with fifteen minutes remaining they were only six.

Ballinlough, boosted by this reprieve, ended their scoring drought with a forty sixth minute goal before getting a point immediately afterwards when capitalising on poor defensive play from Seneschalstown. Then in the fifty first minute they suddenly found themselves a point to the good after their third goal, at which point they had as many goals as points.

The accurate Ingman brought his side level once more when kicking a twenty one metre free following a foul on second half substitute Joey Macken before kicking another effort from play after Robbie Waters had won a kick out and Shaun Doyle carried forward strongly before passing to Ingman to score.

This transpired to be Seneschalstown's final score of the match though as Ballinlough took over from here to the finishing post. A fifty seventh minute goal saw them go two points in front before they closed out the match with three points in a row, one from a forty five, the second from a free and then finally another in the second minute of stoppage time from play. Gerry McGivney then sounded his whistle to bring an end to proceedings and also to the Yellow Furze outfits hopes of success.

After a championship season which had promised so much as the team sought to bounce back from defeat to Kilmainhamwood in the 2013 decider this defeat will be a difficult one to swallow for Seneschalstown but they will look to bounce back next Monday when they take on Skryne in the final round of the league. Victory on Monday would secure their second successive league promotion and this will now be the focus of attention for the disappointed panel.

Seneschalstown Scorers: Aled Ingman 0-06 (0-03 Frees), Steven Dillon 0-02, Colin Lynch 0-02 (0-01 Free), Ronan Conneely 0-01, Brendan Lynch 0-01, Darragh Keogh 0-01

Seneschalstown: Shane Corbally, Louis McAuley, Mark Keating, John Muldoon, Shaun Doyle, Steven Dillon, Shane Gargan, Robbie Waters, Aled Ingman, Brendan Lynch, James Gillic, Ronan Conneely, Colin Lynch, Eddie Meade, Thomas Duggan.

Seneschalstown Substitutions: Darragh Keogh for L. McAuley, Joey Macken for T. Duggan, Mark Gleeson for E. Meade.

Goals Win it for Ballinlough
An inspired final fifteen minutes saw Ballinlough overcome Seneschalstown in this end to end Junior D semi final played in Simmonstown on Thursday night.

Seneschalstown 0-13
Ballinlough 4-06

Seneschalstown opened the scoring when Ronan Conneely pointed after getting on the end of a move started by Steven Dillon. However, Ballinlough found themselves in front after six minutes when Ken Rothwell was brought down in the area and a penalty was awarded. James O'Higgins cooly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner of Shane Corbally's goal. Aled Ingman brought Seneschalstown back to within a point with a free after a foul on Colin Lynch before two points in a row from the North Meath outfit. O'Higgins was responsible for both scores, the first an expertly taken point when he was facing away from the goals. His second was a well converted free, after Simon Deevy had been brought down while bearing down on goal.

Seneschalstown began to dominate around the middle of the field after this and were very dangerous for the remaining ten minutes of the first half. Dillon and Ingman tapped over consecutive scores before Brendan Lynch tied the game up after he carried the ball in from the left hand sideline to fire over the bar.
Ingman then kicked his third point of the half and first from play to send Seneschalstown into the lead by one. This score in the twenty ninth minute left the scoreboard reading Seneschalstown 0-06 Ballinlough 1-02.

Having kicked the last four points of the first half Seneschalstown continued to dominate the early part of the second period as Ingman notched his second from play. Colin Lynch extended his sides lead to three when splitting the posts at the end of a move which owed much to the persistence of full forward Meade.

Four minutes later Lynch curled over a fine free into the teeth of the stiff breeze after a trip on Meade. Steven Dillon then grabbed his second of the match with an impressive score to increase his sides lead.

In the forty fourth minute Seneschalstown extended their advantage to six points when Darragh Keogh pointed from an acute angle after reacting quickest when Brendan Lynch's shot for goal came back into play off the butt of the left hand upright. In hindsight though this turned out to be a major turning point as instead of finding themselves eight points in the ascendancy with fifteen minutes remaining they were only six.

Ballinlough, boosted by this reprieve, ended their scoring drought with a forty sixth minute goal. Ken Rothwell smashed the ball into the back of the net after a great run forward by lightning quick wing back Paul Monaghan. Kevin Mallen, who was beginning to grow in influence in the middle of the field, got a point immediately afterwards when capitalising on poor defensive play from Seneschalstown.
Simon Deevy was moved from his full forward position to midfield, and was vital in helping to drive this turnaround for Ballinlough with his impressive ball winning capabilities. In the fifty first minute the 'Lough found themselves a point to the good after their third, and most impressive, goal. Substitute Tom Shine blasted an effort from range into the top corner, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance

The accurate Ingman tagged on a further two points for Seneschalstown, but these were to be their final scores of the afternoon, as the 'Lough seemed to find another gear in the closing minutes

A fifty seventh minute goal by Gary Reilly saw them go two points in front. The young midfielder showed great strength to break through a couple of tackles before rounding the keeper and tapping into the back of the net. They then closed out the match with three points in a row, first Kevin Mallen struck an excellent forty five, before he then converted a free kick from similar distance. Gary Reilly then picked up the games final score with a sensibly taken point from play in the dying moments.
Ballinlough will be delighted that their great form across all competitions is continuing, and will hope their winning ways remain for the final against Clann na Gael in two weeks.


Ballinlough: L. Gibney, J. O'Keefe, E. Smith, M. Farrell, P. Monaghan, Junior O'Reilly, S. Smith, G. Reilly (1-1), K. Mallen (0-3), P. Briody, K. Rothwell (1-0), K. Beirne, J. O'Higgins (1-2), S. Deevy, D. Farrelly. Subs: J. Montgomery Francis for S. Smith, T. Shine (1-0) for D. Farrelly, M. Reilly for P. Briody, D. Montgomery Francis for J. O'Higgins.

Seneschalstown: S. Corbally, L. McAuley, M. Keating, J. Muldoon, S. Doyle, S. Dillon, S. Gargan, R. Waters, A. Ingman, B. Lynch, J. Gillic, R. Conneely, C. Lynch, E. Meade, T. Duggan. Subs: D. Keogh for L. McAuley, J. Macken for T. Duggan, M. Gleeson for E. Meade. Tweet

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