Seneschalstown 4-11 St. Brigid’s 1-11

The unfamiliar surroundings of Ballinacree was the setting for Seneschalstown’s third game in the Waterways Environmental Ltd. Division 10 Football League against hosts St. Brigid’s on a glorious Tuesday evening in the north west of the county. Prior to making the trip, there was plenty of talk among members of the Seneschalstown club of when the last time Seneschalstown played in the picturesque venue but nobody was able to recall the last time the Furze men had taken to the field for an away tie against their hosts so perhaps this was a slight piece of history for the Seneschasltown players and management, although this has yet to be confirmed.

Seneschalstown enjoyed a bright opening quarter to the game and were first on the scoreboard when Shane Mulvany pointed after a layoff from Bradley Kirwan. Despite enjoying plenty of early possession, Seneschalstown had to wait until the 12th minute for their second score.

A ball into the left corner was chased down by Alex Finnegan. The corner forward still had lots to do before even contemplating a shot at goal but Finnegan did extremely well to make space for a shot. It was an under-hit effort but the goalkeeper was left backpedaling and all he could do was help the ball languish in the corner of the net.

That score injected some intensity into Seneschalstown and full forward Seán Davis became the third member of the full-forward line to score by the 13th minute when he kicked a tidy point from play. The same player added a brace of frees to follow this up, the first of which was a two pointer after the referee brought the ball 50 metres forward. The second dead ball was a routine 13 metre free.

The home side finally got on the scoreboard in the 20th minute with a point from play but Seneschasltown looked to have put this in the rear view mirror almost straight away.

Some patient play around the D’ from the Seneschalstown forwards eventually left Owen Mullen with a gap to exploit.  The wing forward took off on a mazy run and found himself in on a goal after beating a number of tackles and all he had to do was keep his composure and that he did, slotting the ball beyond the keeper to move Seneschalstown ten points in front at 2-05 to 0-01.

St. Brigid’s though, began to get their act together and seconds after they kicked their second point they received a major shot in the arm when they found the net. Three further points in as many minutes had reduced the deficit to a goal and it looked like Seneschasltown were under pressure. However a final score from Alex Finnegan, who was unfortunate not to find the net gave the visitors some further breathing space at the interval as they lead by four points.

The home side, operating with only the bare minimum of fifteen players were showing no signs of flagging and they seized the initiative in the opening exchanges of the second quarter. They got the opening point upon the resumption but this was answered at the other end when Shane Mulvany saw his shot flash over the bar for Seneschalstown. The Ballinacree outfit then kicked four on the bounce to draw level before losing a man which would prove detrimental to their chances. Seneschasltown withdrew a player to ensure it was 14 a side but the extra space afforded to the Seneschalstown forward suited them and they made the most of it.

In the 43rd minute Senechasltown broke quickly and a move involving a number of players left the marauding Owen Mullen in on goal once more and just like he did in the first half he kept his cool to roll the ball home. Alex Finnegan brought his tally to 1-02 with a well taken score but St. Brigid’s replied with a point from a free.

Second half substitute Jamie Barry punished another indiscretion from the home side which resulted in a 50 metre advancement when he raised an orange flag for Seneschasltown and slowly but surely Seneschalstown were reestablishing their early lead.

Another substitute introduced off the bench, Jack Boland added his name to the scoresheet when he did well to get his shot away under pressure before Seneschalstown rubber stamped victory with a fourth goal. Joe Norris was central to the move and he could have went himself when he got in on goal but unselfishly laid off to Charles McCarthy who had the simple task of palming into an empty net.

This was a good victory for Seneschalstown as it gets them their first points in the competition after a couple of near misses before a Round 4 clash at home to Longwood in two weeks time.

Mick Dillon returned to the sidelines for this game and watched eagerly in order to pick his standout player for his Man of the Match award and after not being able to split them, Owen Mullen and Alex Finnegan were joint recipients of the bottles of Lucozade.

Seneschasltown: Cathal Darby, Colm McDonnell, Eoghan McGauran, Peter Tierney, Tom McDonnell, Jamie Kirwan, Cormac Mullen, Teean Cummins, Aran Carey, Owen Mullen (2-00), Niall McCabe, Bradley Kirwan, Alex Finnegan (1-02), Seán Davis (0-04, 1 tpf, 1f), Shane Mulvany (0-02).

Subs: Joe Norris, Charles McCarthy (1-00), Jamie Barry (0-02, 1 tpf), Jack Boland (0-01), Josh Keating, Daragh Nangle

Tweet

Most Read Stories