Seneschalstown 2-13 Simonstown Gaels 2-13

Seneschalstown were extremely unfortunate to see Simonstown Gaels strike for two late goals to secure a draw in their final group game of the Fairyhouse Steel SFC Group B clash in Páirc Táilteann on Saturday evening. If truth be told, Seneschalstown deserved to take the full two points on offer but the concession of two late goals proved costly – the second of which came as a result of a big stroke of luck when the ball rebounded to a Simonstown player in the square.

The Navan side bossed the first 15 minutes and were quick off the mark. Podge McKeever was prominent early on helping Simonstown move four points clear by the eighth minute. James Meade opened Seneschalstown’s account in the 10th minute when he converted a free after Cathal Finnegan was taken out in the air. Two further points for the Gaels had them 0-06 to 0-01 in front after 11 minutes but Seneschalstown finally settled to the task.

Eoin Finnegan struck Seneschalstown’s first score from play after 13 minutes when he pointed from 20 metres after James Meade set him up.  Less than a minute later, Cathal Finnegan converted a close range free after Darren O’Brien did well in the build up.

Both sides spurned a goal chance each in the next few moments, Alan Mulvany firing wide at the hospital end for the Yellow Furze men before David Gordon got down well to thwart Sean Conlon’s soccer style effort.

A Cathal Finnegan free, which he won himself, had the deficit down to two points but Simonstown would respond with two white flags of their own to leave themselves 0-08 to 0-04 up after 22 minutes, but the half would swing in Seneschalstown’s favour. Cathal Finnegan kicked his first point from play, and third in total after Dylan Keating found him with a diagonal ball and Meade was accurate with a 35 metre free as a result of another high challenge on Finnegan.

As the clock ticked into the second minute of first half stoppage time, Dylan Keating picked out Cathal Finnegan over the top of the Simonstown defence and after shaking off the challenge of his marker he unleashed a rocket into the top right corner of the net for a stunning goal and giving Seneschalstown the lead for the first time as Robert Purfield blew for half-time at 1-06 to 0-08.

Having experienced some costly moments immediately after half-time in their previous games, Seneschalstown were intent on putting that right in this game. Alan Mulvany got the ball rolling for the half when he picked an excellent line to cut in and split the posts from 30 metres. Simonstown answered with a similar score a minute later before Mulvany got goal number 2.

Robbie Finnegan saw his effort drop into the goalmouth and the presence of Cathal Finnegan seemed to cause confusion in the Simonstown defence. The ball broke to Mulvany who went around the keeper and dispatched the ball to the roof of the net and suddenly Seneschalstown lead by four points. Dylan Keating increased that to five when he took on a shot from the left of the ‘D’ in the 38th minute.

A Simonstown free kept their score ticking over, but Keating and Eoin Finnegan were involved in helping set up the next score for Cathal Finnegan as the game entered the final quarter.

In the 49th minute, Keating successfully took aim from distance after Alan Mulvany placed him for the shot, leaving the two goals between the sides.  Robbie Finnegan put his name to a point with seven minutes remaining when blasted over from close range, the number 15 unfortunate not to see the net ripple. Simonstown tagged on a point before a well worked move involving some slick hand passes saw them engineer a goal in the 56th minute.

It looked like Seneschalstown had done enough to win when a Johnny Gilsenan shot crept over the bar almost in slow motion moments before the hour was up. However, Seneschalstown were extremely unfortunate to concede a second goal when the ball broke back to Shane Barry after he tried to play it across the square. The Seneschalstown defence didn’t have time to reset and Barry was able to slip the ball into the net and now it looked like Seneschalstown were hanging on, even more so when Ben Hoey levelled the game with a superb point from almost 45 metres.

In another twist, Cathal Finnegan looked like he had won the two points for Ciaran Marks’ side when he kicked a point from an almost impossible angle, but when Seneschalstown were adjudged to have committed one foul too many, McKeever was never going to miss the resultant free to tie up the game one last time. Despite having one last half chance to claim the spoils, Seneschalstown could not get the shot away and when Simonstown turned the ball over, the full-time whistle was blown on an entertaining draw.

Seneschalstown: David Gordon, Cillian Lawlor, Brian Maguire, Danny Waters, Rob Wogan, Simon Rooney, Ryan Finnegan, Donie Commons, Darren O’Brien, James Meade (0-02, 2fs), Cathal Finnegan (1-05, 2fs), Alan Mulvany (1-01), Dylan Keating (0-02), Eoin Finnegan (0-01), Robbie Finnegan (0-01).

Subs: Ross Howard, Johnny Gilsenan (0-01)

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