A League Division 1 Round 6

Dunshaughlin 2-10 Seneschalstown 2-12

The May Bank Holiday weekend saw Seneschalstown travelling to Dunshaughlin where they looked to avenge their 2015 League defeat when they went down to a narrow defeat and following a topsy turvy match they ended up coming out on top by two points.  In a game where both sides had their spells of dominance it was Seneschalstown who just managed to have longer spells in charge and were it not for some wasteful finishing their margin of victory could have been slightly larger as they hit thirteen wides over the hour.  

The nature of a Bank Holiday Weekend saw both teams lining out minus the services of some key players with men of the calibre of Caoimhín King for Dunshaughlin and David Lyons for Seneschalstown unavailable for selection.  Both sides had earned comfortable victories earlier in the week and with their tails up would have been confident of coming up with the spoils, with Dunshaughlin looking to push towards the top spot and Seneschalstown aiming to move towards mid table.    

The match didn't quite get off to a blistering start and it took until the seventh minute for the opening score which arrived when Trevor Dowd sent over from play for the home side.  Just as they had done on Tuesday against Summerhill, Seneschalstown hit back from conceding the opening point by grabbing a goal.  Jonathan Gilsenan reacted quickest to a poor point effort by Brian Sheridan and as soon as Gilsenan got the ball into his grasp the Dunshaughlin defender decided to pull him to the ground, giving referee Liam O'Brien no choice but to award Seneschalstown a penalty.  Brian Sheridan stepped up to the plate and with ice in his veins rolled the ball down the middle to give Seneschalstown a great start.  Shane Gallogly replied with a twelfth minute free from out on the right which clipped the right hand upright on the way over.  

At this point of the match Seneschalstown were well on top but were struggling to assert their dominance on the scoreboard.  Bryan Clarke sought to right this when after running onto a David Matthews ball out of defence he turned inside Fearghal Delaney before launching over a brilliant point.  Cormac Noonan was enjoying a good battle at full back and when he stretched out his long arm to flick the ball to safety Seneschalstown built a move from the back and with Jonathan Gilsenan, Niall Groome and Bryan Clarke linking well the ball was eventually worked to right half back Teean Cummins and he made no mistake as he curled over from out on the right.  Clarke following up with his second from play.  Ronan Geraghty replied with an effort from play to register Dunshaughlin's third point of the match but this was cancelled out by a fine Bryan Clarke point when after Damien Sheridan flicked the ball down at midfield to the whippet like Adam Carey, Carey picked out Joe Sheridan who sent his dropkicked pass into Clarke who swivelled and pointed.  

This though proved to be Seneschalstown's last point of the half as they appeared to completely switch off from there to the break.  On twenty-one minutes they had goalkeeper Shane Corbally to thank when he pulled off a smart stop but just a minute later he found himself picking the O'Neills out of his net when after the ball was sloppily given away from a line ball on the left Dunshaughlin capitalised by counter attacking and when right corner forward Niall Byrne got in on goal he made no mistake.  This seemed to spark Dunshaughlin to life and within seconds Trevor Dowd had drawn the teams level.  Tadgh O'Dushlaine then sent them into the lead when after his goal effort clipped the crossbar it rebounded into the goal off the unfortunate Corbally.  Their lead then became four when in the twenty ninth minute the experienced Trevor Dowd pointed from a free.  

This left the half time score reading Dunshaughlin 2-05 Seneschalstown 1-04 and with Seneschalstown having a lot of work to do to arrest the switch of momentum which was now firmly in favour of the team in black and amber.  

When the teams re-emerged for the second half Dunshaughlin appeared in no humour to give up their momentum as they tagged on the first two points, one from play and then a free from Trevor Dowd.  Needing a score to get back into the match Joe Sheridan looked the spark some life into his side and instead of taking the easier point attempt he went for a goal in the thirty-eight minute but saw Michael Ahern pull off a plying save to his right as the Dunshaughlin goalkeeper tipped his effort out for a forty-five.  This though provided Bryan Clarke with a chance and Clarke made no mistake as he split the uprights with his effort from the placed ball.  Clarke, David Matthews and Brian Sheridan then linked up to find Teean Cummins and the raiding wing back despite being under huge pressure from a plethora of defenders managed to get his shot away for a point.  

Seneschalstown were now edging back into the match and almost received a major fillip when Brian Sheridan got in for a goal chance.  On his lesser used left foot Sheridan got his shot away but saw it clip the post and go wide.  Nonetheless it didn't take long for that second Seneschalstown goal to arrive and when it did it was Jonathan Gilsenan who got it as he sent an exocet of a shot to the back of the net. Full forward Niall Groome then drew the sides level before centre back James Byrne bisected the uprights from the most ridiculous of angles out on the left.  Ahern, having earlier pulled off that great save from Joe Sheridan then made a poor mistake as having come 15 metres out from goal he let the ball slip through his fingers to gift Seneschalstown a forty-five and having been given a present Bryan Clarke gratefully took full advantage to convert the dead ball.  

Shane Gallogly looked to get Dunshaughlin back into the match when pointing from play but Jonathan Gilsenan, now having refound his mojo hit back immediately when pointing after good play from Brian Sheridan.  Ronan Geraghty hit back when clipping over a fine score but from a forty-four metre free which would have been probably fifty metres including the angle Bryan Clarke punished a defensive lapse of discipline.  With two minutes remaining on the clock Brian Sheridan finished off a length of the field move when sensibly fisting over to push Seneschalstown into a three-point lead which seemed to secure the bacon.  Deep into stoppage time Dunshaughlin managed to muster one last attack but when the ball needed to be dropped in on the edge of the square right half back Danny Quinn saw his effort instead drop just over the crossbar and with that point Liam O'Brien sounded the full time whistle to give Seneschalstown the two points.  

Best for Seneschalstown were Teean Cummins, John Smith and Brian Sheridan.  Next up for the Devenish Nutrition sponsored side is a Round 2 game in the Hoganstand.com Meath SFC against Skryne on Friday May 13th at 19:45 in Ashbourne.  

Seneschalstown:  Shane Corbally, John Smith, Cormac Noonan, Conor Cowley, Teean Cummins (0-02), James Byrne (0-01), David Matthews, Damien Sheridan, Joe Sheridan, Niall Hickey, Brian Sheridan (1-01, 1-00 Penalty), Adam Carey, Jonathan Gilsenan (1-01), Niall Groome (0-01), Bryan Clarke (0-06, 0-02 '45, 0-01 Free)).

Seneschalstown Substitutions:  Niall McCabe for A. Carey  

Dunshaughlin Report

Dunshaughlin 2-10 Senchalstown 2-12

The last day of Spring marked a very disappointing performance and result for Dunshaughlin in Round 6 of the Division 1 A League. Senchalstown, with Damien, Joe and Brian forming the spine of their team broke early from the traps and played some excellent, direct football in the early stages of the game. Brian Clarke led the charge up front and kicked some excellent points. It took the Dunshaughlin rear guard quite some time to get to grips with things.

The returning 42 year old David Tonge. playing at half forward, was a surprise to many Dunshaughlin followers, but the hard working half forward put in an excellent shift in the first half. When Dunshaughlin got going they played some excellent football with Niall 'Goalsy' Byrne finally living up to his nickname as he got on the end of an excellent team move to palm the ball to the net.

Dunshaughlin played without new Meath panelist and father of one Niall Murphy. Murphy was held back by Mick O'Dowd as the Meath team play a challenge today. His absence was missed all over the field by the home team. Midfielders John 'The Pharmacist' Crimmins and Ray Maloney, fresh from celebrating Castleknocks win over Oliver Plunketts in the Dublin SFC, started winning vital possession and this formed the platform for numerous attacks in the first half. Dunshaughlin grabbed their second goal before the break when Tadhg 'Legs' O'Dushlaine burst forward only to see his weak effort drop short and go into the net with the help of the Sheridanstown goalkeeper. O'Dushlaine tried to claim the goal but video analyst Declan Bannon chalked it down as an OG.

The second half will be one to forget for Dunshaughlin. Senchalstown were more efficient and economical on the ball. Dunshaughlin were slow and will rue some missed opportunities. Brian Clarke proved how valuable a free taker can be as he kicked some booming frees from all over the field. Niall Byrne and Trevor Dowd were proving a thorn in Senchalstown's side but unfortunately Dunshaughlin couldn't get the ball in enough times. Dunshaughlin suffered when Catercool employee Ray Maloney had to drop into full back to mark Brian Sheridan. Brian, proved a handful as big brother Joe fed him at every opportunity with some long drop kicks.

With some positional changes Dunshaughlin did tighten things up. Ronan Geraghty shored up the defence and Maloney went back to midfield with his penetrating runs leading to Dunshaughlin getting some good scores, but it proved too little too late. With championship around the corner Dunshaughlin will need to improve 100% if they are to beat Wolfe Tones on May 14th. May the Summer start better than the Spring ended.

On a positive note it was excellent to see number 1 supporter and club president Patsy McLoughlin parked up in pole position beside the new clubhouse cheering on his favourite team.

Dunshaughlin: Michael Ahern, Davy Dunne, Dan Ormbsy, Rambler Delaney, Danny Quinn (0-1), Ben Duggan, Tadhg 'Legs' O'Dushlaine, John Crimmins, Ray Maloney, David Tonge, Ronan Geraghty (0-2), Mark Devaney, Niall Byrne, (1-1) Shane Gallogly 0-2, Trevor Dowd 0-4

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