Seneschalstown 2-05 Skryne 0-10

There may have been potential new rules on trial in Croke Park over the course of this weekend, but Seneschalstown displayed many qualities of everything that is liked about the current version of Gaelic Football as they annexed the Liam Toland Cup having won Division 2 of the LMFM Minor Football Championship with yet another narrow, nail-biting victory over Skryne in Tony Callaghan Park, Duleek on Thursday night.   Just like their semi-final victory over St. Patrick’s this game came down to the final throes, as expected, and once again when it mattered most Seneschalstown displayed immense character to come out the right side of the result to win a first Minor Championship title for the club since the Division 3 success of 2015.

Both clubs were playing for the Liam Toland Cup, named after a very talented footballer from Skryne who tragically lost his life in a road traffic accident only hours after lining out for the Meath Minor team in 2010.

This was the third meeting of the sides this year with Skryne winning a last round group game in the League 0-12 to 0-09, while it was honours even when the sides met in the first round of the Championship, 1-10 to 0-13 with Jamie Norris rescuing a draw for the Furze men with a late free in early August.   Seneschalstown defeated St. Patrick’s after extra-time in the semi-final, while Skryne had a much more comfortable last four win over Dunderry to ensure we had the finale to the trilogy with the stakes higher than at any other point this year.

Come Thursday night in Duleek, it was dry with no real wind to speak of.   Conditions were ideal for both teams to go hammer and tongs at each other for 60 minutes, or longer if so required.

Seneschalstown started slowly and failed to reach the pace and intensity of the early stages and fell behind inside the opening sixty seconds to the first Skryne point, which was added to by the Tara youngsters in the third minute with another white flag.

Alan Finnegan’s side started to get something of a foothold as the first ten minutes progressed and when they managed to launch their first meaningful foray into the Skryne half, Cian Hosie was fouled to the left of the ‘D’ after Seneschalstown recycled possession having looked like they were bottled up in the old entrance corner of the ground.   Two goal hero from the semi-final, Jamie Norris trotted out and sent the free between the posts to settle Seneschalstown into the contest and give them an opportunity to press Skryne into their own half.

That didn’t occur and the early Skryne advantage was extended to 0-03 to 0-01 after nine minutes with a third white flag for the side with the iconic Trevor Giles as part of their backroom team.

Seneschalstown though, were not found wanting for a lack of effort and when they did manage to force a Skryne player to miss hit a pass in front of their dugout in the twelfth minute, Cian Hosie picked up the loose ball and ran straight into the open hole in front of him with the number 11 chipping over his first point of the night with some help from the right hand upright.

Again however, Skryne made it look like they were in control during the opening salvo and answered Hosie’s point at the other with their fourth in the 18th minute to move ahead by double scores at 0-04 to 0-02.

A key moment in the contest was about to arrive in the next play, and as important as it was it was equally as stunning.   Cathal Reilly sent a typically long kickout straight down the middle of the pitch which was claimed majestically in the air by Charlie Finnegan just inside the Skryne half.   Finnegan didn’t take long to pop off to Aran Carey on his right hand side who was now making inroads inside the Skryne 45’.   With the Skryne defence out of shape, Carey was able to slip a handpass over the top into the path of Adam Clarke and he made no mistake in picking out the top left corner of the Skryne goal with an absolute rocket of a shot for a sublime finish to an excellent phase of play.   Seneschalstown were buoyed by that and certainly upped their intensity another level from there on.

Skryne did pull level in the 25th minute, but that would be as close as the side in blue would get to leading for the remainder of the game.

Adam Clarke was having a fruitful ending to the opening period and when he was outnumbered after receiving the ball 35 metres from the Skryne goal, his tenacity was rewarded by Cormac Reilly after he deemed the corner forward was fouled.   Over came Cian Hosie to assume responsibility on the free and he was as accurate as ever, nudging Seneschalstown in front and give them a lead they would take into the half time team talk at 1-03 to 0-05.

It is often said that the third quarter is the most crucial quarter of a game as that is when most high end teams make their match winning move and put daylight between themselves and the opposition.   This was also true of Seneschalstown in this case, however they took it to another level with a five minute burst that would ultimately prove to be the difference come the final whistle.

Inside the opening ninety seconds after the resumption Cormac Reilly Reilly spotted a foul on a Seneschalstown player amidst a mass of bodies and from a similar position to his free at the end of the first half, Cian Hosie converted to move Seneschalstown two points ahead for the first time over the course of the game.

Seneschalstown immediately set up an intense press on the Skryne kickout, the ball was broken to Aran Carey about sixty metres from goal.   He played the ball to Cian Hosie who made a direct run at the heart of the Skryne defence.   After engineering a one-two with Jamie Barry, Hosie managed to regather possession at the second attempt  and by that stage he was met by a Skryne defender who left Hosie in a heap on the ground.   Cormac Reilly ran in with his arms outstretched, penalty awarded!

After dusting himself down, Hosie stood up to the spot and calmly sent the keeper the wrong way placing the ball elegantly in the bottom left hand corner and all the momentum was with Seneschalstown now.   Having played a key role in the lead up to both goals,   Aran Carey added to Seneschalstown’s growing lead in the 35th minute and now they were six points to the good.   At the time, the Seneschalstown faithful were unaware that Carey’s score would be their last of the game but as of now they didn’t look in any trouble.

Skryne pulled two points back for themselves before the forty minute mark passed to which Seneschalstown responded by bringing in James Heery for Jamie Barry, but another point for Skryne came in the 41st minute and slowly the pendulum was starting to swing their way once again.

Seneschalstown stood up to the pressure for next 15 minutes, lead by Charles McCarthy at centre half back.   The full back line of Colm McDonnell, Eoghan McGauran and Tom Concannon proved to be watertight in this period as Cathal Reilly was not called into action to make a save.   Bradley Kirwan was becoming a very lively option for kickouts while Mattie Cowley ran himself into the ground just like the St. Patrick’s game.   Extra protection was added with the introduction Tadhg Caffrey for James Sharkey who had put in a good shift up to that point.   Cathal Clarke was also covering a tremendous amount of ground from his wing forward berth.   The work of the coaching staff was also evident as many observers were impressed with Seneschalstown’s defensive shape, discipline and organisation.

The legs were tiring on both sides but the heart was not waning in the Seneschalstown youngsters even if scores were proving difficult to come by for them at the new clubhouse end.   Skryne looked to be timing their run to perfection late on and two further points for them before the game entered injury time left the minimum between the sides as the pressure was ramped up to the highest degree.

When a Skryne forward won a mark about 40 metres from goal over to the left hand side, it presented them with an opportunity to draw level and perhaps force Seneschalstown for the second game running into extra time.   The shot came in and the umpire took his time, came around to the side of the post and eventually put up his two hands to wave the ball wide when it looked like the effort wasn’t far away.   Seneschalstown must have felt they were out of jail when Cathal Reilly sent another kickout the proverbial mile away from his goal.

Not so.   Skryne won the ball and worked it up towards the Seneschalstown goal.   It was turned over by the Seneschalstown defence but Colm McDonnell was whistled by Cormac Reilly for taking too many steps when in possession and Skryne had one last free from under the scoreboard to send the game into an additional twenty minutes.

A parish held it’s breath once again.   The free was taken and this time the reaction of the Seneschalstown players confirmed it was wide to all those in attendance before the umpire was required to wave it wide.   This time when Reilly took the kickout, the full-time whistle went which sparked tremendous scenes of joy and celebration for everyone behind the team in yellow.   Seneschalstown had held out for a one point victory in a second half which had a very similar pattern to that of the semi-final.  On that occasion when lady luck had deserted Seneschalstown at the end of normal time, this time it was forthcoming in spades.   The scoreline reflected the close nature of the contest and on another night certainly could have went Skryne’s way, who played their part in a gripping contest.

For the management team of Alan Finnegan, John McCarthy, Ian Carey, Colin Clarke and all of the players, this was a superb reward for the effort put in during the year and in years gone by coming up through the underage ranks.   The panel  on the night only contained 19 players which includes injuries, also had couple of players still eligible at Minor for two more years.

After the game Joe O’Brien presented the Liam Toland Cup to Charles McCarthy, which was gleefully watched on by the very large Seneschalstown support in attendance.

Winning a Minor Championship is fantastic for any group of players, and now the next step for the club is to ensure a smooth transition into adult football for these players with many making the step up next year.   Being able to do so as a Minor Championship winner will only add to the players confidence and interest levels.

Seneschalstown: Cathal Reilly, Colm McDonnell, Eoghan McGauran, Tom Concannon, Bradley Kirwan, Charles McCarthy, Mattie Cowley, Charlie Finnegan, Aran Carey (0-01), Cathal Clarke, Cian Hosie (1-03, 1-00 pen, 0-02 fs) James Sharkey, Adam Clarke (1-00), Jamie Norris (0-01, 1f), Jamie Barry.

Subs: James Heery, Tadhg Caffrey, Keith Finnegan, Johnny Finnegan

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