Seneschalstown 0-19 Meath Hill 1-16

After 60 plus minutes of football in Meath Hill on Tuesday evening, there was nothing to separate Seneschalstown and their hosts at the end of this topsy turvy Round 9 encounter in the JM Food Services Football League Division 2.  Seneschalstown will take the point given that they found themselves seven points in arrears after 17 minutes and three down with less than five minutes of injury time to play.

On the flip side, they will be frustrated to leave with just the one point having outscored their opponents 0-12 to 0-02 in a twenty minute period either side of the break to put themselves three in front after 37 minutes.

The opening quarter was all about the home side as Seneschalstown struggled to get to grips with their North Meath opponents. They were well on top in midfield and raced into a 0-09 to 0-02 lead after 17 minutes. Seneschalstown’s first score came after three minutes through Cian Commons after he cut in from the left hand side to tie it up at a point apiece. Their second came in the ninth minute when Commons fetched a David Gordon kickout. From the mark he pinged the ball long into Eoin Finnegan who pointed on the turn. By the time Seneschalstown scored again though, they were facing a big uphill task.

That came in the form of Finnegan again, when he got in close to goal and opted to point from a tight angle. Dylan Keating followed up with a two point effort from the 45’ from open play and it felt like Seneschalstown were beginning to build a bit of momentum. Despite two Meath Hill points, Keating was on target again shortly afterwards before Eoin Finnegan kicked his third to make it 0-11 to 0-07.

The corner forward had the last say of the half when he took aim at the posts for a two point effort from out on the left hand side. The ball flew between the posts and suddenly Seneschalstown looked in a decent position to kick on after half time, trailing 0-11 to 0-09 at the break.

They carried their momentum into the second half and almost immediately reduced the deficit to the minimum when Eoin Finnegan kicked a free. A minute later Brian Maguire and Aran Carey combined in a tight spot in the corner before Carey got inside his man to set up Maguire to fire over the leveller from close range.

It was all Seneschalstown now, and they continued to take advantage of space along the edge of the two point arc and this time Éamon Finnegan took aim after getting forward from his wing back berth and the visitors were ahead after 34 minutes. They added to that tally when Aran Carey showed some decent footwork to make space for himself when one on one with his marker and finished the move to leave it 0-14 to 0-11.

However, from somewhere Meath Hill managed to turn the momentum back in their favour. Two points for them in the 42nd and 43rd minutes left the minimum between the sides again before they got inside for a goal on the three quarter mark. Another point two minutes later left Seneschalstown back in a hole that they had to dig themselves out of. Having done it once already Seneschalstown didn’t shy away from that task during the final quarter.

Cian Commons kicked a mammoth two point free from over 50 metres to reduce the gap to one but two points for the home side in the 52nd and 56th minutes victory looking very likely from their point of view.

However Seneschalstown didn’t read the script and another two point effort, a second for Dylan Keating left only one between the teams again as the clock entered injury time.

After passing up an opportunity to level it when coughing up possession, Seneschalstown pressed high and forced a turnover. As he made his way towards goal Eoin Finnegan was fouled and Seneschalstown had the chance they craved. Finnegan was unerring from a central position thirty metres out and it was 1-16 to 0-19.

There was one last chance for Meath Hill to win it when they were awarded a free close to the sideline but the heavily sanded pitch did their keeper no favours as his effort was scuffed and fell short. Before the ball was picked up the full time whistle went and both sides were left with a point each, probably the fairest result given the way the game swung back and forth numerous times.

Both teams now lie on 11 points in the table just outside the top four before the penultimate round of action on Saturday week. For Seneschalstown, they will welcome table toppers Navan O’Mahony’s to Fr. Tully Park.

Seneschalstown: David Gordon, Conor McDonnell, Woodley Nicholson, Séimí Byrne, Ronan Conneely, Brian Maguire (0-01), Éamon Finnegan (0-02, 1 tp), Donie Commons, Danny Waters, Seán Reilly, Alan Mulvany, Darren O’Brien, Dylan Keating (0-05, 2tp), Cian Commons (0-03, 1tpf), Eoin Finnegan (0-07, 2fs).

Subs: Aran Carey (0-01), Liam Dillon, Ryan Finnegan

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