Seaford Rock United
2016/2017 Season

The most frequently selected team, based on minutes played.

First Team Manager: Stephen Faherty
Second Team Manager: Alan Burns

First Team Player of the Year: Harry Crowe
First Team Top Goalscorer: Harry Crowe (24)
First Team - Most Assists: Harry Crowe (11)

Second Team Player of the Year:  Francis Mulhall
Second Team Top Goalscorer: Carl Doyle (7)
Second Team - Most Assists: Donal Howley (5)

(See below for full season stats and match details)

Story of the Season: First Team
The firsts recovered from a terrible start to their league season in LSL Major 1B to surge through the division with a brilliant streak of form in the second half of their campaign, only to fall agonisingly short of a top-three finish and promotion.

There was no shortage of goals in Seaford's early-season matches. The campaign began with a 3-3 draw at home against St James's Gate, a match that was lit up by a stunning Tyrone McNelis volley to open the scoring, before Paul Lydon poached a late equaliser for Seaford. There followed an extraordinary 6-7 defeat at home to Kilnamanagh, before an inexperienced Seaford side suffered a heavy defeat at Beggsboro. A first win arrived against Clontarf, Harry Crowe's six-minute hat-trick turning the game on its head in the final stages, but three straight league defeats plunged Seaford into  the relegation zone, marring the dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Verona in the Leinster Junior Cup.

The appointment of Stephen Faherty as the new first team manager proved to be the turning point of the season. Although Faherty's first couple of matches resulted in cup defeats, there was an immediate upturn in league form, with an impressive away win at Hartstown Huntstown followed up by a battling victory at home to Greenhillls.

There was a setback in the form of a 2-3 reverse against Ringsend Rovers before a brilliant streak of seven wins from eight put Seaford right in promotion contention, with Crowe netting at a rate in excess of a goal a game, and the defence making an equally important contribution, with skipper Fionn Lawlor reinventing himself as a centre back, alongside Alan Brennan or Stephen Kelly.

A disappointing display away at Greenhills - and three points dropped against the relegation-battlers - would prove decisive in the final outcome, even though the team bounced back by staying unbeaten in its final six matches. Those included a superb double home and away against champions-elect Booth Road Celtic, as well as a comfortable win over Leixlip and a battling win at St James's Gate.

But ultimately, Seaford's poor start left them with slightly too much ground to make up, even though overall it was a season during which the club took a step forward in quality, giving plenty of grounds for encouragement for the next campaign.

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First Team Matches 2015/16

Date	Competition	Opposition				Goalscorers	Report
20 Aug 16	LSL Sat Major 1B	St James’s Gate	H	3-3	D	McNelis, Crowe, Lydon	Link
22 Aug 16	LSL Sat Major 1B	Kilnamanagh	H	6-7	L	McNelis (2), Crowe (2), Faherty, o.g.	Link
27 Aug 16	LSL Sat Major 1B	Beggsboro	A	1-5	L	Finnegan
3 Sep 16	LSL Sat Major 1B	Clontarf	H	5-3	W	Johnson-Barker, L Kelly, Crowe (3)	Link
10 Sep 16	LSL Sat Major 1B	Clontarf	A	0-2	L		Link
17 Sep 16	LSL Sat Major 1B	Home Farm	A	1-4	L	Crowe
24 Sep 16	LFA Junior Cup	Verona	A	0-0*	D		Link
1 Oct 16	LSL Sat Major 1B	Mount Merrion	H	2-3	L	Crowe, Sullivan	Link
8 Oct 16	LFA Junior Cup	St Mochta’s	A	2-7	L	Crowe, Sullivan
15 Oct 16	Noel Ryan Cup	Swords Celtic	A	1-3	L	Farrelly
22 Oct 16	LSL Sat Major 1B	Hartstown Huntstown	A	4-2	W	Crowe (2), Connolly, J O’Neill	Link
29 Oct 16	Carroll Cup	Booth Road Celtic	A	3-4	L	Connolly, O’Neill, Crowe
5 Nov 16	LSL Sat Major 1B	Greenhills Greenpark	H	3-2	W	Crowe (2), Lydon
19 Nov 16	LSL Sat Major 1B	RIngsend Rovers	H	2-3	L	Lydon, Lawlor
26 Nov 16	LSL Sat Major 1B	Beggsboro	H	4-2	W	M O’Neill, Connolly, J O’Neill, Crowe	Link
2 Dec 16	LSL Sat Major 1B	Phoenix	A	3-0	W	Crowe (3)	Link
14 Jan 17	LSL Sat Major 1B	Kilnamanagh	A	1-0	W	S Kelly	Link
21 Jan 17	LSL Sat Major 1B	Leixlip United	A	0-2	L
28 Jan 17	LSL Sat Major 1B	Home Farm	H	3-1	W	Connolly, McNelis (2)	Link
11 Feb 17	LSL Sat Major 1B	Lucan United	A	3-1	W	Crowe, J O’Neill, O’Fatharta	Link
18 Feb 17	LSL Sat Major 1B	Phoenix	H	5-0	W	McNelis, Tansey, Crowe, Connolly (2)	Link
25 Feb 17	LSL Sat Major 1B	Hartstown Huntstown	H	2-1	W	Higgins, Crowe
1 Apr 17	LSL Sat Major 1B	Greenhills Greenpark	A	1-2	L	Crowe
8 Apr 17	LSL Sat Major 1B	Ringsend Rovers	A	1-1	D	Higgins
10 Apr 17	LSL Sat Major 1B	Booth Road Celtic	H	2-1	W	Crowe, o.g.	Link
22 Apr 17	LSL Sat Major 1B	Lucan United	H	0-0	D
29 Apr 17	LSL Sat Major 1B	Leixlip United	H	3-1	W	Mulhall (2), o.g.
6 May 17	LSL Sat Major 1B	St James’s Gate	A	2-1	W	Crowe, Mulhall	Link
15 May 17	LSL Sat Major 1B	Booth Road Celtic	A	3-1	W	J O’Neill, M O’Neill, O’Fatharta	Link

   *AET. Seaford won 5-3 on penalties

First Team Stats - 2015/16

Player	App	Gls	Ass	Yel	Red	Mins
Harry Crowe	27	24	11	1	0	2368
Paul Tansey	23	1	4	1	0	2012
Fionn Lawlor	23	1	3	1	0	1923
Mike O'Neill	21	2	1	2	0	1787
Darragh Connolly	24	6	8	2	0	1754
James O'Neill	21	5	7	2	0	1596
Paul Lydon	23	3	3	1	0	1368
Fionn Geoghegan	18	0	5	1	0	1364
Oisin Geoghegan	15	0	0	0	0	1350
Alan Brennan	14	0	0	3	1	1184
Piers Shelton	16	0	3	0	0	987
Stephen Kelly	12	1	1	3	0	939
Jim Nolan	12	0	1	0	0	822
Tyrone McNelis	9	6	6	0	0	777
Eoin English	8	0	0	1	0	720
Theo Cullinane	12	0	1	0	0	597
Steve Kane	11	0	0	2	0	583
Neil Harrington	6	0	0	0	0	526
Dylan O'Reilly	6	0	1	1	0	518
Dave Higgins	7	2	0	1	0	504
Luke Kelly	5	1	1	1	0	450
Donal Howley	7	0	0	0	0	411
Darragh Roche	7	0	1	1	0	382
Paidi O'Fatharta	10	2	1	1	0	339
Mark O'Brien	5	0	0	0	0	316
Chris Monk	7	0	1	0	0	297
David Devaney	4	0	1	0	0	293
Frank Mulhall	5	3	1	0	0	245
Ben McAuley	4	0	0	0	0	238
Mark Sullivan	3	2	0	0	0	232
Stephen Johnson-Barker	3	1	0	0	0	215
Marc Smith	5	0	0	1	0	213
Paddy Farrelly	5	1	0	1	0	202
Stephen Faherty	3	1	2	0	0	200
Conor Geoghegan	4	0	0	0	1	196
Barry Kirwan	2	0	0	0	0	195
Darren Grealish	3	0	0	0	0	148
Adam Finnegan	3	1	0	0	0	128
Jimmy Hussey	1	0	0	0	0	90
MJ Tierney	2	0	0	0	0	67
Andy Roe	1	0	0	0	0	65
Amer Herenda	1	0	0	0	0	55
James Thompson	1	0	0	1	0	45
Denis Donnelly	1	0	0	0	0	45
Stephen Nolan	1	0	0	0	0	42
Coly McCarron	1	0	0	0	0	26
David Mackey	1	0	0	0	0	20
John O'Brien	1	0	0	0	0	15
Carl Doyle	2	0	0	0	0	14

 

The most frequently selected team, based on minutes played.

Story of the Season: Second Team
It was another season of frustration and unfulfilled potential in Division 3 for Seaford, who enjoyed a strong second half to the season after a difficult start, to pull well clear of the relegation battle, but ultimately had to settle for a mid-table finish.

The start of the season couldn't have been tougher, with four matches in the space ten days, the first three of which were against the three clubs who would eventually pull well clear of the rest of the division to seal the promotion spots.

Seaford were comfortably beaten by each of Kill Celtic and Clontarf, but did manage a dramatic 1-0 win over AIB courtesy of Tony Bennett's 89th winner.

But it would be some time before Seaford enjoyed another win in the league, as a series of frustrating draws and heavy defeats saw them sink dangerously close to the foot of the table. The victory, when it finally came over Knockmitten United in November, was dramatic, as Seaford equalised three times at Rockfield Park before Chris Sastre volleyed home the winner.

However, three consecutive defeats during the rest of November put Seaford right back in the soup. The fixture list offered some consolation, as did the knowledge that the team had played within itself during the opening months, struggling for consistency in both selection and performances.

A superb performance away at Blessington proved a turning point, centre back Stephen Kelly heading two in a 3-0 win, before an equally dominant display produced the same scoreline at Ratoath Harps, to give Seaford some breathing space. 

The expanded Vere Deane Cup offered a shot at silverware, but narrow 2-1 defeats against Blessington and Knockmitten condemned Seaford to a group-stage elimination despite impressive wins over Mid-Sutton and Cloghertown United.

The league campaign resumed in April, as Seaford made it five wins from six to complete the season. The star of that month's matches was unquestionably striker Carl Doyle, who bagged a hat-trick against Blessington in his first start for three years, before adding two more off the bench at home to Mid Sutton and ending as the seconds' top goalscorer with another brace, in a famous end-of-season win over title-chasing Kill Celtic, sealed by MJ Tierney's stunning 94th minute free-kick.

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Second Team Matches - 2015/16

Date	Competition	Opposition				Goalscorers	Report
20 Aug 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Kill Celtic	A	1-3	L	Mulhall
22 Aug 16	LSL Sat Div 3	AIB	H	1-0	W	Bennett	Link
27 Aug 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Clontarf	H	1-5	L	Crichlow
29 Aug 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Mid Sutton Sportslink	A	1-4	L	Johnson-Barker
10 Sep 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Hyde Park	H	1-1	D	Kelly	Link
24 Sep 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Malahide United	H	1-1	D	Benson
1 Oct 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Cloghertown United	A	1-4	L	Farrelly
8 Oct 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Knockmitten United	A	3-3	D	Farrelly (2), Ralph	Link
15 Oct 16	LFA Junior Shield	Frankfort FC	H	5-4	W	J O’Brien (2), Mulhall, Finnegan, Tierney
29 Oct 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Hyde Park	A	1-4	L	McNelis	Link
5 Nov 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Knockmitten United	H	4-3	W	Mulhall, McNelis, Ralph, Sastre	Link
12 Nov 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Clontarf	A	1-4	L	Farrelly
19 Nov 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Cloghertown United	H	1-3	L	S Kelly
26 Nov 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Malahide United	A	0-3	L		Link
10 Dec 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Blessington	A	3-0	W	S Kelly (2), Mulhall	Link
21 Jan 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Ratoath Harps	A	3-0	W	Mulhall, Roe, Monk	Link
11 Feb 17	Vere Deane Cup	Blessington	A	1-2	L	S Kane	Link
18 Feb 17	Vere Deane Cup	Cloghertown United	H	2-0	W	Tierney (2)	Link
25 Feb 17	Vere Deane Cup	Mid Sutton Sportslink	A	2-0	W	Roe, M Kane
11 Mar 17	Vere Deane Cup	Knockmitten United	H	1-2	L	Donnelly	Link
1 Apr 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Blessington	H	3-1	W	Doyle (3)	Link
8 Apr 17	LSL Sat Div 3	AIB	A	1-5	L	Mulhall	Link
24 Apr 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Mid Sutton Sportslink	H	5-1	W	C Geoghegan, Mackey, Higgins, Doyle (2)	Link
29 Apr 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Kill Celtic	H	3-2	W	Doyle (2), Tierney	Link

 

Second Team Stats - 2015/16

Player	App	Gls	Ass	Yel	Red	Mins
Shane Lauritsch	21	0	2	0	1	1398
Frank Mulhall	19	6	4	5	0	1266
Darren Grealish	16	0	0	3	0	1236
David Devaney	12	0	4	1	0	979
Steve Kane	11	1	2	1	0	934
Donal Howley	11	0	5	0	0	869
Adam Finnegan	8	1	0	0	0	720
Eoin English	8	0	0	0	0	720
Matt Tappin	13	0	0	3	0	716
Mark O'Brien	9	0	1	1	0	707
Stephen Kelly	9	4	2	2	0	683
Daire Ralph	13	2	2	0	0	676
Conor Geoghegan	8	1	2	0	0	654
Chris Sastre	14	1	1	0	0	638
Alan Brennan	7	0	0	2	0	630
Barry Kirwan	8	0	0	0	0	588
Amer Herenda	8	0	1	0	0	571
David Mackey	11	1	1	2	0	560
Andy Roe	7	2	0	0	0	557
Robbie Murray	8	0	1	1	0	519
MJ Tierney	6	4	3	1	0	472
Oisin Geoghegan	5	0	0	0	0	450
Dylan O'Reilly	5	0	0	1	0	450
Theo Cullinane	5	0	0	0	0	448
Marc Smith	7	0	1	1	1	417
Tommy Crichlow	5	1	0	0	0	391
Paddy Farrelly	5	4	0	0	0	390
Luke Ginnell	4	0	0	0	0	360
Carl Doyle	7	7	1	0	0	325
Mikey Kane	8	1	0	0	0	319
Jim Nolan	4	0	2	0	0	313
Wouter Hoek	10	0	0	1	0	309
Tyrone McNelis	3	2	2	1	0	270
Tony Bennett	5	1	1	0	0	247
Paidi O'Fatharta	3	0	0	0	0	221
Denis Donnelly	5	1	1	0	0	221
Chris Monk	3	1	1	0	0	193
Jake Macken	2	0	0	0	0	180
James O'Neill	2	0	1	0	0	180
John Bannon	2	0	0	0	0	180
Piers Shelton	2	0	0	0	0	180
Fionn Geoghegan	2	0	0	0	0	180
Dean Wallace	2	0	0	1	0	160
Liam O'Keeffe	3	0	0	0	0	160
Stephen Johnson-Barker	2	1	0	0	0	120
Dave Higgins	2	1	0	2	0	115
John O'Brien	2	2	0	0	0	110
Stephen Faherty	1	0	0	0	0	90
Darragh Roche	1	0	0	0	0	90
John Power	1	0	0	0	0	90
Mark Cullen	1	0	0	0	1	90
Alan Benson	1	1	0	0	0	84
Conor Fitzpatrick	2	0	0	0	0	82
Frank Daly	3	0	0	0	0	75
Neil Harrington	1	0	0	0	0	65
Luke Kelly	1	0	0	1	0	35