Warning for Navan men after shock reversal

The victims of a shock defeat to Nobber a couple of weeks ago Seneschalstown gave Navan O'Mahonys a taste of what it feels like when a less fancied side gets one over the hot favourites. O'Mahonys showed up at Pairc Tailteann for this SFC encounter on Sunday with an impeccable record, their reputation enhanced by a series of power-packed displays that left many chalking them up as champions elect. They may very well go on to lift the Keegan Cup, but at least Senechasltown showed ] that O'Mahonys are not infallible, that they are beatable. It certainly didn't look at half-time as if Seneschalstown would walk away from Brews Hill with both points in the bag. They were unable to find any form against a stern, cool breeze and they even struggled to get on the scoreboard during that stop, start 30 minutes. At the break they had only one score registered - a point from Damien Sheridan. Then it all changed as Seneschalstown employed a more high-pressure game in the second-half. O'Mahonys, who were able to make full use of their high tempo, passing game in that opening half, suddenly found themselves denied the kind of time and space they thrive on. "We used the ball very poorly in that opening half and we should have had three or four more points. In the second-half we hit some superb scores, used the ball much better. We displayed a high level of fitness and that's a compliment to our trainer Brian Barry," Seneschalstown manager Damien Sheridan told the Meath Chronicle. The performance of the O'Mahonys tormentor-in-chief Brian Sheridan mirrored exactly how the afternoon unfolded for Seneschalstown. He could do little right in the opening half missing one free from right in front of the posts. On the resumption he could do little wrong slotting over a series of points providing the final brush stroke to some adventurous, enterprising approach play. The high point for Brian Sheridan came when with just five minutes left on the clock he took a pass from Ciaran Macken way out on the right. It seemed the best he could do was retain possession and use up a few more precious seconds. Instead he took aim and somehow arrowed the ball between the posts for the most audacious of scores. That put Seneschalstown 0-10 to 1-3 in the clear and looking good. And yet despite their second-half dominance the Yellow Furze side could have let this win slip. With the game well into added time O'Mahonys launched a last desperate attack. Cormac McGuinness lobbed the ball forward, it broke to Jake Regan and he shot narrowly wide with only David Lyons between him and a goal. Seneschalstown kept working hard even when the tide was against them with Macken and Joe Cowley typifying the type of non-stop running that underpinned the entire team's performance. One note of concern for the winners was that apart from Damien and Brian Sheridan the only other player to get on the scoreboard was Shane Clarke. O'Mahonys were all but assured of a place in the knock-out stage and this may have had something to do with their fall away in the second-half when they could only muster two points from frees. They also hit 10 wides. The O'Mahonys goal came in the 18th minute when Stephen Bray sent a pass to Kevin Reilly who skipped past a tackle before firing home. Soon after David Lyons had to save smartly to prevent Reilly getting a second goal. Further points from Darragh Smyth, Shane Gillespie and Bray put O'Mahonys in front at the break. The loss of Bray through injury in the first-half didn't help O'Mahonys either. Seneschalstown - D Lyons; D Byrne, C Noonan, G Sheridan; P Carey, G Conlon, J Byrne; J Sheridan, D Sheridan (0-1); C Macken, B Sheridan (0-8, five frees), J Cowley; B Clarke, S Finnegan, P Watters. Subs - S Clarke (0-1) for Watters, A Gleeson for Macken 50 mins; D Hosie for B Clarke 51m; C Gleeson for Cowley, 58m; R Ruddy for Finnegan 59m. Navan O'Mahonys - M Brennan; S O'Toole, N McKeigue, I Matthews; S MacGabhann, C McGuinness, G O'Brien; M Ward, D Moran; D Smyth (0-1), S McKeigue, A Forde; S Gillespie (0-1, free), K Reilly (1-0), S Bray (0-1, free). Subs - B Dillon for Bray 27 mins; A Rogers for Gillespie 46m; J Regan (0-2, frees) for Smyth 48m. Referee - Colm McManus (Gaeil Colmcille).