Heroic Lyons denies Tones
Friday November 06 2009
The Sheridan brothers may have set up Seneschalstown's second Meath SFC success in three years with their sensational scoring burst in the first half of this replayed final in Navan last night, but it was their goalkeeper, David Lyons, who protected their good work in a dramatic finale as he pulled off a magnificent save to thwart a spirited late Wolfe Tones offensive.
Gordon Beggy's snap shot deep into injury-time looked to be travelling fast enough to ensure another bout of extra- time following last Sunday's encounter.
But Lyons reached to parry the ball away for yet another '45 and, when Seneschalstown cleared the danger, only then could they be sure of the club's fourth title.
It was a gallant effort from Wolfe Tones, who had trailed by seven points at half-time and were dealt another blow before the restart, when referee Joe Curley sent-off their 'keeper, David Nolan, after an apparent altercation with Joe Sheridan as the teams came off the field for the interval.
attacker
Tones were forced into introducing a substitute 'keeper Sean Power and withdrawing attacker Darren McGrath.
But playing with 14 men seemed to inspire them and, with midfielder Stephen Corrigan and Eoghan Harrington driving them on, they found rhythm and really made Seneschalstown dig in.
As ever, it had been the trio of Sheridan brothers that sent another Meath club team into a tailspin in the first half.
First Joe's sideline from almost the corner flag was met with the most perfect combination of timing and force by younger brother, Brian, to smash home the opening goal on 16 minutes.
And then eldest brother Damien dropped the perfect ball into Joe who made a few hard yards to manoeuvre past Ciaran McLoughlin and fire an unstoppable shot past Nolan for a 2-2 to 0-1 lead on 17 minutes.
Wolfe Tones hadn't settled as well as they would have liked with their ultra-reliable place-kicker Cian Ward sending two frees within his range wide.
Lyons was again equal to a Ward shot on 12 minutes but a foul on the Meath attacker in the build-up warranted a penalty as Seneschalstown held a slender 0-1 to 0-0 lead. But Ward drove over Lyons' crossbar.
The quickfire nature of both goals really rocked Wolfe Tones and when Joe Sheridan and Gary Conlon added points to open a nine-point lead, 2-4 to 0-1, a rout threatened.
But Wolfe Tones began playing their way back into contention from that point with McGrath and Corrigan reducing the deficit before the break.
They dominated much of the second half and when Ward started finding his range from distance, they crept closer.
Tones lost Ciaran McLoughlin, who had been given a torrid time by Joe Sheridan, but they managed well as the action switched to the other end.
It was their bluechip attacker who eventually gave them hope going down the home straight when he gathered Harrington's clearance from defence, twisted and turned his way into a goalscoring position and then squeezed home a goal to set up a grandstand finish.
The drama didn't end there as the Tones kept pushing. First Niall McLoughlin had a shot blocked before Lyons got his fingertips to Beggy's late effort.
Seneschalstown will meet hosts Portlaoise in Sunday's Leinster club quarter- final.
Scorers -- Seneschalstown: J Sheridan, B Sheridan 1-2 each, M Carey, S Clarke (0-1f), G Conlon, R Ruddy 0-1 each. Wolfe Tones: C Ward 1-6 (0-3f, 0-1 '45' 0-1 pen), D McGrath, S Corrigan 0-1 each.
Seneschalstown -- D Lyons; P Carey, A Collins, G Sheridan; M Carey, J Cowley, S Sheridan; J Sheridan, D Sheridan; G Conlon, C Macken, S Finnegan; S Clarke, R Ruddy, B Sheridan. Subs: T Ledwidge for Clarke (47), C Duffy for Sheridan (54), B Clarke for Ruddy (58).
Wolfe Tones -- D Nolan; R Brady, C McLoughlin, C Martin; B McGinn, E Harrington, G Beggy; S Sheppard, S Corrigan; D McGrath, N McLoughlin, M Coleman; A Fox, C Ward, P Byrne. Subs: S Power for McGrath (ht), A McKeown for C McLoughlin (35), A Callaghan for Byrne (43), J McKeown for Coleman (53).
- Senesch'town 2-8 Wolfe Tones 1-8 Colm Keys
Irish Independent
