Seneschalstown 1-18
Navan O'Mahonys 0-05
Having been so unlucky to lose out at the death of the 2014 Championship Final Seneschalstown set about the task of going one better on Sunday lunchtime in Simonstown when comfortably accounting for the challenge of Navan O'Mahonys. With a good mixture in the side of youth and experience they proved far too strong for a youthful O'Mahonys selection as they hit the front early on and gradually pulled away as the game continued.
With a strong breeze blowing across the field accurate shooting was going to prove a touch tricky but with players of the calibre of Shane Clarke and Jonathan Gilsenan in attack Seneschalstown made light work of this. Indeed it was Clarke who opened the scoring on four minutes when he pointed a free from the right of the posts after Ross Howard was hauled to the ground. O'Mahonys equalised a minute later but from the moment Brendan Lynch coolly slotted to the back of the net the Dunbia sponsored outfit never looked back. Influential centre back Joe Cowley intercepted a stray ball in defence before picking out Aled Ingman who then sent a raking pass over the top of the O'Mahonys full back line into Lynch's path. Upon gathering possession Lynch stepped back inside the covering defender before finding the back of the net.
James Meade pointed from play soon after when getting on the end of a sweeping team move started deep in his own half by corner back Ronan Conneely. Jonathan Gilsenan extended the advantage in the eighteenth minute before grabbing another point five minutes later as his side began to dominate affairs. The town side picked off a free before Seneschalstown notched the last four points of the half to go in at the interval nine points to the good. Firstly Gilsenan struck over his third of the half before Shane Clarke popped two over, one from a free either side of a Tean Cummins effort.
Upon the resumption Lynch kicked his first point of the day before Clarke kicked an impressive free into the breeze. The youthful O'Mahonys reeled off two points in a row before after Cummins won a free after bringing off a fine fetch in the middle of the field Ross Howard raced through the defence to point. James Meade then added a brace of scores before the on forty six minutes O'Mahonys brought their scoring for the day to a close with a free.
The nature of the Seneschalstown performance was that from back to front they worked with great tenacity and this high workrate from Robert Darby brought about their next score. After expertly blocking down a clearance from defence he curled the ball over the bar from a narrow angle. Gilsenan added another point before Brendan Lynch kicked two in the space of three minutes, the second after a very patient build up from the forwards. With four minutes remaining Ross Howard added another to bring the scoring to a close on a day when Seneschalstown's Junior B season sprang to life.
With a Round 2 game against St. Colmcilles next up in Stamullen next Sunday at lunchtime they will be eager to continue this positive start to the Championship. If they can perform to a similar standard to what was hit in Simonstown then they are more than capable of picking up another two points.
Seneschalstown Scorers: Brendan Lynch 1-03, Shane Clarke 0-04 (0-03 Frees), Jonathan Gilsenan 0-04, James Meade 0-03, Ross Howard 0-02, Tean Cummins 0-01, Robert Darby 0-01.
Seneschalstown: Shane Corbally, Niall McCabe, John Smith, Ronan Conneely, Mark Carey, Joe Cowley, Aled Ingman, Tean Cummins, Darragh Keogh, Ross Howard, Shane Clarke, Brendan Lynch, James Meade, Jonathan Gilsenan, Robert Darby.
Seneschalstown Substitutions: Adam Gargan for N. McCabe (inj).
Seneschalstown got the better of a young O'Mahonys third string team in this first round Junior B Football Championship tie played in Simonstown on Sunday.
Seneschalstown 1-18 O'Mahonys 0-5
Seneschalstown started the better getting 1-1 on the board before Ciaran O'Hanlon responded with a point from play. O'Mahonys held their fair share of possession for the next few minutes but failed to make it count on the scoreboard with some misses, both from frees and from play.
Seneschalstown seemed to find scores easier to come by but good saves from Colm Honan, Darragh McGuinness, and Eamonn Ferris in the first half prevented Seneschalstown from raising a further green flag.
The loss of Jack Walsh and Andy Leech to a red and black card respectively (both on the stroke of half time) and the loss of Evan Murtagh to a black card 11 minutes into the second half further hampered O'Mahonys efforts.
O'Mahonys went in at the break 1-8 to 0-2 down and unfortunately for the young Navan men, the second half continued much like the first. Good points from captain Ciaran McGuinness and Conor Brennan in the 8th and 9th minute were the highlights of the second half for the town team, while Seneschalstown slotted the points over with ease. O'Mahonys were left ruing many missed opportunities that went straight into the goalies hands or off target and ended in a disappointing 16 point defeat.
O'Mahonys team:Colm Honan, Darragh McGuinness, Eamonn Ferris, Liam Murphy, Paddy Dillon, Andy Leech, Evan Murtagh, Ciaran McGuinness (0-1), Jack Walsh, Conor Brennan (0-1), Gavin Fox, Shane Power, Ciaran O'Hanlon (0-2, 0-1f), Sean Smyth (0-1f), Jamie Power, Subs: Johnny Brennan for Andy Leech (32), Gerry Brennan for Evan Murtagh (41)
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