Seneschalstown 3-06 Na Fianna 2-07

It wasn't pretty at times but Seneschalstown booked their place in the LMFM Meath Minor Championship Division 2 Final against Trim when holding out for a two point victory over Na Fianna in Enfield on Monday morning.  Following a performance which was of a quality well below the best of what both sides are capable of in the first half Seneschalstown went in at the interval trailing by one point, 0-04 to 1-02 with only one point from play scored between the two sides, this coming in the twenty seventh minute from Ryan O'Dowd.  Facing down the barrel of exiting the championship if their performance didn't improve in the second half some stern words were spoken at half time with captain Mark Fox rallying the troops to give a massive effort.  Whatever words Fox spoke, they seemed to have the desired impact as his team turned in an impressive, gritty display to surge into a six point lead after fifty seven minutes and to hold out by two after sixty eight. 

A notable aspect of the match today was the impact of the Seneschalstown substitute's bench as they absorbed the loss through injury over the course of the replay of two key members of their forward division.  Few people covered as much ground today as the team physio who was constantly running on to the field as players picked up knocks on the heavy playing surface. 

With only two minutes on the clock sharp shooter Eoin Finnegan had to be helped from the action after landing awkwardly.  His colleague in the full forward line, Daire Geraghty opened the scoring two minutes later when pointing a free after a Na Fianna defender was penalised for picking the ball clean off the ground.  Seneschalstown had been quickest to settle and could have had a few more scores on the board had their shooting been more accurate.  Instead their forwards struggled to get to grips with the gusty conditions and had to rely on frees to register.  In the ninth minute Geraghty struck over his second from dead balls after Darragh Keogh drew a foul as he burst through the home sides defence after the hard working midfielder had executed a fine interception. 

Na Fianna, playing into the wind managed their opening score when pointing a free after Peter Tierney was adjudged to have fouled his opponent.  The Enfield/Baconstown outfit were beginning to grow into the match and could have been level but some outstanding work from the Seneschalstown defence forced a wide from a good attacking position four minutes later. 

Geraghty, who was enjoying a great battle with the Na Fianna full back was unlucky to see a goalbound effort blocked out when a defender with the goalkeeper beaten.  A twenty third minute free from Na Fianna tied the game up as scores proved very difficult to come by for both sides.  Sean Noonan soon edged his side back in front when becoming the latest free taker to score after his jersey was tugged as he latched onto a long wind assisted delivery from David Fox.  Then, a minute later the long awaited first score from play of the match arrived when O'Dowd curled over from twenty five yards in the twenty seventh minute. 

Given the nature of the game so far a two point lead seemed a decent advantage but this was to prove far from reality when Na Fianna goaled from a penalty just moments later.  David Gordon in the Seneschalstown goals chose to dive to his left hand side but could only look in in desperation as the ball rolled into the opposite corner.  Four and a half minutes of stoppage time were played at the end of the half but neither side troubled the umpires which left the home side firmly in the driver's seat with the advantage of a one point lead and the strong breeze to aid them in the second half while Seneschalstown reflected on five wides and two shots dropped short over the opening thirty four minutes. 

If the signs at this stage of the match pointed to a home victory Geraghty was to throw a spanner in the works with only two minutes on the clock in the second half.  After tenacious work in defence from Danny O'Reilly and Ronan Conneely the ball was worked upfield to Noonan.  After regaining control Noonan sent a long diagonal ball towards Geraghty who was lurking menacingly.  Luck was on his side when the full back failed to hold onto the ball and Geraghty made no mistake as he fired to the net to push his side into a two point lead.  Noonan then added a point of his own within seconds as the words from Fox at half time seemed to be having an instant effect. 

Na Fianna pulled a point back when converting another free before as they threatened to carve the away defence wide open full back David Fox inspirationally won a ball when defending in a two on one situation.  Having gained possession the ball ended up with Noonan who sent over a magnificent point.  Without a score from play so far Na Fianna then hit two in a minute, the second of which clipped the right hand upright on its way over. 

The response to these two scores from Seneschalstown was brilliant as corner forward Niall Hickey scored a goal after getting on the end of a sublime team move.  The central figures in the score were Peter Tierney who executed a brilliant tackle on the right sideline before offloading to Adam Carey.  Carey took off up the field like a bullet and after some lovely fast handpassing the ball ended up with Hickey who blasted an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net. 

Nine minutes passed without a score, although there were two delays during this spell as players had to be treated for knocks picked up.  As a result of one of these Robert Wogan was sprung from the Seneschalstown bench in place of Noonan.  Na Fianna seemed to react the best to this broken passage of play when pointing from play in the fifty fourth minute.  Wogan though was soon to make his presence felt.  Displaying a true poacher's instinct he got himself into half a yard of space on the edge of the square to react quickest to a Mark Fox ball across to control the ball with his first touch and send classy effort past the 'keeper. 

From this point to the final whistle though it was all Na Fianna as they laid siege to the Seneschalstown goal as they went in search of the two goals they required to level the match.  They did manage to score one goal in the sixty fourth minute but with each and every one of the team in blue putting their bodies on the line Paul Geraghty's charges were determined not to have their hopes of a final spot dashed.  Goalkeeper Gordon pulled off an excellent full length diving save to divert a shot around the post while Cormac Mullen snaffled a loose ball in the square before desperately clearing it.  However, nothing quite demonstrated this like the block made by Adam Carey in the seventh minute of time added on.  As a Na Fianna forward lined up a shot Carey suddenly appeared out of nowhere to launch himself at the ball and get a block in.  Na Fianna did though get a free kick after Carey was adjudged to have handled the ball on the ground as he lay in a heap following his block.  The resultant free was deflected over the bar to leave just the two points between the sides but with almost sixty eight minutes played the referee sounded the final whistle much to the delight and relief of all from Yellow Furze and Kentstown. 

Seneschalstown will now look forward to a final encounter against Trim, and following on from the U-17's Division 4 success earlier in the year they will do so with much confidence.  However they will be acutely aware that they will need to put in a much better performance than what they did here.  Among those who put in sterling performances in Enfield were Ronan Connelly who got through a mountain of work, David Fox and Niall Hickey. 

Seneschalstown Scorers:  Daire Geraghty 1-02 (0-02 Frees), Robert Wogan 1-00, Niall Hickey 1-00, Sean Noonan 0-03 (0-01 Free), Ryan O'Dowd 0-01. 

Seneschalstown:  David Gordon, Cormac Mullen, David Fox, Peter Tierney, Daniel O'Reilly, Darren Johnson, Adam Carey, Darragh Keogh, Mark Fox, Ronan Conneely, Sean Noonan, Ryan O'Dowd, Eoin Finnegan, Daire Geraghty, Niall Hickey. 

Seneschalstown Substitutions:  Shane Mulvany for E. Finnegan, Conor Cantwell for S. Mulvany, Robert Wogan for S. Noonan.

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