Simonstown march on in fine style

IT might be premature to suggest that Simonstown are genuine contenders for Keegan Cup glory following this impressive 2-11 to 1-6 victory in the SFC at Walterstown this evening, writes Sean Wall.

However what was clear from this encounter is that Seneschalstown have a fight on their hands to retain their long unbroken sequence in the senior grade following this disjoined display.

That might sound harsh on the Yellow Furze outfit but the reality of their plight was laid bare especially in the second half as Simonstown hardly had to move through the gears to end comfortable winners, their second success of the campaign.

Thanks mainly to the efforts of the outstanding Dylan Keating in attack, Seneschalstown were still in contention at half-time, trailing 1-4 to 1-6. However there was only one team in it throughout the second half as Simonstown struck for a goal within 30 second of the restart and managed the game efficiently after that.

The half was 25 minutes old before Alan Mulvany (free) added to Seneschalstown’s opening half tally and their only point from play for the half came on the hour mark from the same player.

It was that early second half goal from Padraig McKeever following good work by Eoghan Gough and Aaron Farrelly that set Simonstown on their way and the full forward then added a point from a free two minutes later leaving his side virtually out of sight.

A feature of Simonstown play was their ability to kick scores from long range and Tadhg Hanrahan and Ben Hoey both stood out in that department, shooting a brace of scores each from distance. However their hunger and willingness to work for each other was another impressive trait.

Shane McEnery and McKeever had their opening scores before Alan Mulvany got Seneschalstown off the mark from a free. Seneschalstown led for the only time after a foul on Mulvany resulted in a penalty and Keating dispatched the spot-kick to the net in emphatic fashion.

That may have been a setback for Simonstown but they didn’t show it and they responded with a goal of their own two minutes later as Aaron Farrelly finished to the net after a Sean Tobin effort was blocked on the line by Seimi Byrne.

McKeever from a free regained the lead for Simonstown and they held that advantage to be two clear at the break despite Keating accounting for three brilliant scores for Seneschalstown.

Farrelly, Hoey and Hanrahan kept the scoreboard ticking over for Simonstown after that early second half goal but their task was made all the easier by their opponents who never appeared for that second half hour.

Simonstown – Robbie Burlingham; Mark Devlin, Michael Gavin, Aaron Chinchilla; Eddie Nash, Brian Conlon, Brian McGrath; Sean Conlon, Tadhg Hanrahan (0-2); Shane McEnery (0-1), Sean Tobin, Ben Hoey (0-2); Aaron Farrelly (1-3 one mark), Padraig McKeever (1-3 two frees), Eoghan Gough. Subs – Shane Barry for Tobin 20m, Josh Carolan for S Conlon 45m, Stephen Moran for McEnery 50m, McEnery for Gavin 55m.

Seneschalstown – James Meade; Brian Maguire, Simon Rooney, Seimi Byrne; Ronan Conneely, Danny Waters, Mark Fox; Donal Commons, Cathal Hickey; Dylan Keating (1-3 1-0 penalty), Joseph Moore, Darren O’Brien; Robbie Finnegan, Eoin Finnegan, Alan Mulvany (0-3 two frees). Subs – Woodly Nicholson for Maguire 35m, Sean Carey for Conneely, Liam Dillon for Fox both 41m, Ross Howard for O’Brien 48m, James Conlon for R Finnegan 58m.

Referee – Derek Ryan (Na Fianna).