Seneschalstown 8-13
Duleek/Bellewstown 2-10

Seneschalstown's second string continued their recent winning ways with a 21 point thumping of visitors Duleek/Bellewstown in Fr. Tully Park on Monday night.

Despite the absence of Shane Clarke, Seneschalstown were given a boost with 2015 county minor panellist Niall Hickey returning to club action to make his seasonal debut at this level. The home supporters got plenty of value for their admission fee as they saw they home side rattle the Duleek/Bellewstown net no fewer than eight times over the hour, and an astonishing six in the second half. However, the score line was slightly misleading as, to their credit, Duleek never gave up.

Indeed, it was the visitors who opened the scoring for the night after they were awarded a 30 metre free, which was converted. Seneschalstown grew into the game after that and managed to score the game's opening goal shortly afterwards. After good build up play, the ball ended up in the hands of wing forward Ross Howard. Howard still had a lot of work to do when he received the ball, but after his initial shot was saved, he made no mistake with the rebound. Points were quickly added to the home sides tally by Johnny Gilsenan and Stephen Finnegan.

The same trio of Howard, Gilsenan and Finnegan combined for the second Seneschalstown goal as Howard's foot pass found Gilsenan who in turn picked out the unmarked Finnegan. The finish was excellent as Finnegans perfectly timed flick deceived the on rushing goalie. That opened a seven point lead in as many minutes. The side in green and gold tagged on a point but Brendan Lynch cancelled it out straight away. However, no lead is safe in football and Duleek set about their comeback immediately. An unanswered 1-4 followed with the goal arriving 15 minutes in. The side were level by the 23rd minute at 2-3 to 1-6. Another player lining out for the first time this season was Daire Geraghty and it was him who broke the visitors momentum when firing over after a driving run at the opposition defence. Another Johnny Gilsenan point was sandwiched in between similar scores for Duleek/Bellewstown. In first half injury though, Gilsenan and half back Niall McCabe gave the hosts a two point interval lead, 2-7 to 1-8.

Not even the most optimistic Seneschalstown supporter could have predicted the second half goal surge that was to follow. The first two scores of the half though, were points from Daire Geraghty and James Conlon for Seneschalstown. However, it wasn't long before the goal deluge started with Johnny Gilsenan the first to raise a green flag. Brendan Lynch quickly followed up with a well taken point. The visitor's response was swift as they managed to goal immediately at the opposite end, but Gilsenan continued his own scoring spree when finding the net for a second time. Substitute Aled Ingman was introduced to the fray and within seconds he had the ball over the black spot. Points from Gilsenan (free) and Conlon increased the advantage either side of a Niall Hickey major. Hickey finished low to the net after continuing a support run from the half back line. Conlon pointed again in the 46th minute before Duleek added two points to their tally to reduce the arrears.

The scoring rate dropped considerably over the last 13 minutes with only Seneschalstown troubling the scoreboard operator. Three shots found the target, two were goals for the home side, the other their final point from a Gilsenan free. Goal number seven arrived via Brendan Lynch who worked hard all night, while the final effort came from full back Adam Gargan, who by this stage was operating at the centre of the park. Gargan found himself one on one with the keeper and he made no mistake with the finish. All in all, it was an impressive performance as the side keep looking for crucial victories to move up the table.

Seneschalstown: S. Corbally, S. McCabe, A. Gargan (1-00), R. Conneely, N. Hickey (1-00), J. Cowley, N. McCabe (0-01), J. Smith, D. Keogh, R. Howard (1-00), S. Finnegan (1-01), D. Geraghty (0-02), B. Lynch (1-02), J. Gilsenan (3-04, 2f), J. Conlon 0-02).

Subs: M. Fox, A. Ingman (0-01), W. McDonagh, D. Gordon, P. Tierney.

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