Welcome
Welcome to the home of Seneschalstown GAA Club. This site contains the history, latest news, match fixtures, results and reports for all teams.
Small steps lead to progress
A decade has passed since Seneschalstown last won the Senior Football Championship
and their efforts to bridge the gap met with disappointment in 2004 when they were
eliminated at the quarter-final stage by Trim.
It did represent something of an improvement on the previous year when the Yellow
Furze combination failed to reach the knock-out stages in the battle for the Keegan
Cup, but they certainly diced with death before they finally scraped through in
fourth place in Group B.
Seneschalstown lost to neighbours Walterstown in their last divisional match and
that
left Mickey McQuillan’s team tied with his former club St. Patrick’s in fourth
spot, but because they had beaten the Stamullen men in an earlier group encounter
they advanced to the quarter-finals. Talk about making your supporters sweat!
Their championship campaign certainly produced a mixed back of results, though it
has to be appreciated that they were without the considerable services of Graham
Geraghty for the opening three rounds and he didn’t return until they played Kilmainhamwood,
while that immensely talented youngster Joe Sheridan also missed part of their qualification
bid.
Seneschalstown were drawn in a group that also included St. Patrick’s, Summerhill,
Walterstown, the ’Wood, Dunderry, champions Blackhall Gaels and Cortown and the
opening round encounter against Dunderry was certainly of considerable interest
because coach McQuillan had been in charge of that club the previous year.
Every team likes to open their campaign on a winning note to set the right tone
for the championship and that’s how it turned out for Seneschalstown when the sides
met at Pairc Tailteann as they edged through by 2-12 to 1-11 in a thriller.
Sheridan’s well-struck penalty five minutes from the end ultimately proved decisive
on a day when Alan Finnegan played very well at full-back and Paddy O’Brien and
Joe and Damien Sheridan also played significant roles in the success.
Dunderry held a narrow 1-7 to 1-6 interval advantage after Joe Sheridan had scored
the Seneschalstown goal in the fourth minute and they were still a point to the
good (1-11 to 1-10) well into the second-half, before McQuillan’s men closed with
1-2 to secure the points, with Sheridan also getting the second goal from that penalty.
Seneschalstown had achieved mission number one with an opening round win, but they
faced the task of trying to topple reigning champions Blackhall Gaels next time
out at Skryne, and without Geraghty and Sheridan at that.
And how close they came to securing a second successive win as Blackhall snatched
a
share of the spoils (0-8 each) thanks to a pointed free from Mark Ferris four
minutes into injury-time. Seneschalstown led by 0-5 to 0-3 at half-time, but the
champions recovered and forged into a 0-7 to 0-5 advantage by the three-quarter
stage. However, to their credit, Seneschalstown came back for more and looked likely
to triumph until Ferris intervened with that late, late leveller.
With three points in the bag from a possible four, Seneschalstown had made a bright
start to the campaign, but two defeats followed which threatened to derail their
bid for a qualification place.
The first came at Pairc Tailteann against a Gordon Codd-inspired Cortown who edged
through by 3-7 to 1-10 on a day when Seneschalstown were without several key players.
Yet, they were the better team for a greater portion of the match and it took a tremendous start to the second-half from Cortown to secure the points as Codd finished
with a phenomenal personal tally of 3-6.
Seneschalstown led by 1-5 to 1-3 at the interval, after Ciaran Macken had goaled
brilliantly, but Cortown notched 2-3 at the start of the second period and that
made so much difference. However, the losers did have chances near the end and had
claims for a late penalty controversially turned down. They battled away, but it
just wasn’t to be.
With Geraghty and Sheridan back for the fourth round meeting with Kilmainhamwood
at Kells, hopes had to be high that they would bounce back with a victory, but it
didn’t work out that way as the north Meath side won by 0-12 to 0-8 after leading
by 0-8 to 0-5 at the interval. Again, Seneschalstown had chances which weren’t taken,
but the same applied to the ’Wood.
The fifth round victory over St. Patrick’s at Duleek was to prove so important in
the long run in terms of Seneschalstown qualifying for the knock-out stages. Geraghty’s
second-half contribution, as he roamed very effectively, was decisive in a 0-11
to 0-8 success after they had held a 0-7 to 0-3 advantage at the break. It was a
victory that enabled the Yellow Furze men to leapfrog Pat’s in the table.
When Seneschalstown defeated Summerhill by 3-5 to 1-6 in the sixth round at Dunsany
they had greatly enhanced their qualification prospects. Geraghty was late arriving
and didn’t start a match played in difficult conditions, but they still won comfortably
as Joe Sheridan played superbly.
Seneschalstown looked to be well on their way to victory when leading by 2-1 to
0-1 after Gary Conlon and Sheridan (penalty) had found the net and they were in
front by double scores (2-4 to 1-2) at half-time. Sheridan’s second goal four minutes
after the change of ends secured the win.
Any match between neighbours Seneschalstown and Walterstown can be expected to produce
exciting action, but that’s not how it worked out in the final round of group matches
at Skryne as the Blacks inflicted a 1-9 to 0-6 defeat after holding a 1-6 to 0-4
lead at the break. Seneschalstown never led and failed to lift their game to any
great heights as they managed only two points from play over the hour but, despite
that comprehensive loss, they still scraped through to the business end of the championship.
However, the poor nature of their showing against Walterstown had to be something
of a concern as they prepared for a quarter-final meeting with a Trim side which
had taken the competition by storm and which was the fancy of many people to achieve
outright success.
Trim were favourites to win that meeting at Dunsany and they did so as Seneschalstown
suffered another six-point defeat (1-8 to 4-5). But they certainly weren’t as far
off the pace as that final score line might suggest and it took a two-goal salvo
early in the last quarter to steer Trim firmly in the direction of the semi-finals.
Seneschalstown started brightly and a Sheridan goal helped them to lead by 1-2 to
0-2 after eight minutes, but Trim hit back to hold a 2-4 to 1-4 advantage at half-time.
The third-quarter was close, but those two goals aided Trim considerably, pushing
them seven points clear, and Sheridan’s late penalty miss was of little consequence.
The dream of adding to their Keegan Cup triumphs in 1972 and ’94 goes on for Seneschalstown,
but they will have to wait for at least another year.
"The lads were very disappointed after we lost the quarter-final to Trim," Seneschalstown
player Damien Sheridan commented. "We really felt we had a great chance in this
year’s championship. There was a very good feeling in the camp from the start. We
are a very tight-knit group, we play for each other and expectations were high.
"But, unfortunately, we didn’t take a lot of our chances against Trim and gave away
four goals. We just didn’t perform on the day, simple as that. Simonstown went on
to beat Trim very easily in the semi-final and I suppose that made us look quite
poor. But I really believe that we aren’t that far off the pace. I felt the championship
was very close overall this year."
Of course, Seneschalstown had to play part of the championship without the considerable
talents of Graham Geraghty and Joe Sheridan.
"Being without such big players has to have an affect on the team, that’s inevitable,"
Damien added. "But the lads really upped their performances for the sake of the
team and they were also aware that there were places to fight for. They wanted to
prove themselves. Nobody wanted to let the team down."
In some ways, Seneschalstown’s Senior Championship form was a bit strange, somewhat
inconsistent perhaps. They should have beaten then reigning champions Blackhall
Gaels, with whom they drew, but flopped against Walterstown in the final round of
group matches.
"Going into the game against Walterstown I think we believed we were already through
to the quarter-finals," Damien said. "But then we were lucky to qualify after that
defeat when we just scraped through.
"But, looking to the future, it’s all about building on what we have done so far.
This is generally a very young panel of players. For example, I’m only 23 and Joe
is just 20.
"It’s getting better each year and this year has to be looked on as a step further
than last year because we reached the quarter-finals. Many small steps can lead
to one big step. That has to be the way we look at it."
Hey Joe
Many expected Seneschalstown to struggle in 2004 but the Yellow Furze side refused
to roll over meekly, instead forcing their way to the knockout stage of the SFC,
where they gave Trim a right run for their money. As long as there are players of
the calibre of Joe Sheridan on the scene, Seneschalstown will remain genuine Keegan
Cup contenders.
It hurt. People were writing Seneschalstown off. Saying they were a spent force,
a thing of the past, a team in rapid decline. Their glory days were behind them
and they would struggle in 2004. Some even went so far as to suggest that the Yellow
Furze men might surrender their senior status. It hurt.
It hurt the players. In Seneschalstown, they firmly believe that they still have
a great deal to offer senior football in the Royal County. With quality footballers
like Graham Geraghty, Alan Finnegan, and Joe Sheridan at their disposal, they are
more than capable of making their presence felt.
They proved it in ’04.
The latter-mentioned player says Seneschalstown went all out to reach the county
final in 2004. He also vows that they will do the same again next year. The gifted
full forward insists that the doomsayers have got it all wrong and Seneschalstown
are determined to prove their point. Like a wounded animal, they could emerge as
serious contenders for major silverware in ’05.
"Maybe next year," the county attacker notes. "We have Paudgie Coyle coming back
from America to take over the team and he knows his stuff, so we’re hoping to do
well. I think people have yet to see the best of this
team. Apart from a few older
lads like Graham, Alan and Colin [Clarke], the average age is only 24/25 and there’s
great potential there if we build on it. We’ll give it our best shot again next
season and there’s no reason why we can’t do very well."
What’s a realistic target? The knockout stage of the SFC? Or can Seneschalstown
go further? "Realistically, we have to be looking at a county final. We definitely
want to get past the qualifying stage and into the knockout stage. If you’re good
enough to get out of the group, then you’re good enough to play in the final. Every
senior team should have aspirations of winning the Keegan Cup and I think that’s
what Seneschalstown should be aiming towards. There’s not much point going into
a competition if you don’t try to win it."
Seneschalstown almost surprised Trim in their quarter-final tie in 2004. Though
they went into the game as underdogs, they were bitterly disappointed to lose out.
The players wanted to be involved on county final day and Joe firmly believed they
were good enough to get that far: "The county final is the big day. It’s the stage
every footballer in the county wants to perform on. It’s time we got there again.
There’s an ambition in the club to get to the county final and we were very disappointed
following the quarter-final defeat. After all the effort the lads put in, it was
an anti-climax."
That match took place in the first week of September and the nature of Seneschalstown’s
defeat was frustrating. Over the hour, they gave as good as they got but the concession
of some soft scores cost Mickey McQuillan’s side dearly as they slipped to a 4-5
to 1-8 exit. "We were expecting to beat Trim but it just didn’t happen," Joe reveals.
Though Seneschalstown may have surpassed many people’s expectations of them by getting
so close to a semi-final berth, they failed to meet their own target. "We set out
to get to a semi-final or a final. We always wanted to qualify for the county final
and we’re definitely disappointed that we didn’t get that far. You have to expect to get to a final.
"We were supposedly drawn in the weaker group and we just about managed to get out
of it. We hadn’t had a full team all year though, up until the Trim game, and we
were a bit unlucky in the quarter-final. We should have got further ahead than we
did, and they had the legs on us in the second half. They were the better team on
the day, to be fair, but we were disappointed in our own performance because we
gave away some sloppy goals and they made a huge difference to the result.
"Trim came through the qualifiers unbeaten and that set them out as favourites to
win the championship. When we were drawn against them, the general opinion was that
we were going to get hockeyed. But we never believed that for a minute and we went
into the game fully believing that we could progress to the semi-final. We were
quite close, but you can’t concede four goals in a championship game and hope to
get away with it."
Seneschalstown opened their campaign with a 2-12 to 1-11 win over Dunderry and drew
their next group game with defending champions Blackhall Gaels, 0-8 apiece. Back-to-back
defeats to Cortown (3-7 to 1-10) and Kilmainhamwood (0-12 to 0-8) were followed
by consecutive victories over St Patrick’s (0-11 to 0-8) and Summerhill (3-5 to
1-6) but the final group game also ended in defeat, 1-9 to 0-6, at the hands of
Walterstown. Thus, the Yellow Furze crew finished their programme with seven points
out of a possible 14, just about edging through to the last eight.
"On the whole, we had a lot of good performances over the year and there is the
makings of a very good team there. We have a very young team, with five or six of
the first team also on the U21 side that reached the U21 decider [a game that had
not yet been played at the time of going to press]. Things are shaping up nicely
and maybe this year we’ll go even better than we did last year.
"We were written off but Mickey brought his experience into the team and we made
a good start. We exceeded the expectations of many people, but not ourselves because
we were hoping to push for the Keegan Cup.
"It was unbelievable how many people wrote us off. Even the media had us as favourites
to be relegated. It’s always the same. But we proved them wrong."
The Seneschalstown U21s, meanwhile, did superbly to reach a third successive county
final, wherein they were due to meet Navan O’Mahonys on Sunday November 21. Due
to the restraints of meeting deadlines, ’Royal County 2004’ went to the printers
before that match took place, but Joe Sheridan (also a star player during the year
with UCD in the Sigerson Cup and the Dublin U21 championship) and his team-mates
were hoping for a piece of silverware:
"The last thing we won was a Feis Cup four or five years ago, so we could do with
a boost. Our ladies have been doing really well but the lads need to pick themselves
up again because Seneschalstown is a big club and we haven’t been living up to our
name."
Despite his tender years, Joe has been a first-team regular with Seneschalstown
for five years already. Amazingly, he actually started out in goals with the club.
However, since his move outfield, he has been wreaking havoc at the other end of
the pitch.
Full forward for Meath in the 2002 All-Ireland minor final, Joe established himself
on the county senior panel in 2004. How’s that going? "Hopefully we’re going to
get the right blend. We were very unlucky against Fermanagh and I think there’s
great talent in the county. We should see a few more lads coming through next year
and we’ll be hoping to get to the All-Ireland final.
Meath football needs a good run and we can do it.
"Meath football has been written off but it could be a great year for us. I’m very
hopeful about the prospects of both Seneschalstown and Meath in 2005. They are two
good sides, so it’s a matter of going out and making sure we don’t leave anything behind us."
Sounds like Joe Sheridan is raring to go in ’05. Seneschalstown and Meath have much
to be thankful for.