Match Report: Edenderry Town 3-1 Seaford Rock United
LSL Sat Major 1c
A limp and insipid Seaford performance was punished by Edenderry on a miserable afternoon in County Offaly.
With a squad ravaged by injuries, manager Alan Burns was forced to turn to yet another new centre back pairing, comprising John Bannon and Mike O'Neill, and there was a first start in midfield for second team captain Tommy Crichlow.
On a pitch surface that was only fit for inspiring Seamus Heaney poetry, the first half hour was characterised by niggling fouls and misplaced passes, and there wasn't a single effort on goal until the 25th minut, when Jamie Dolan found Tone Byrne, but he shot wide of the post amidst offside appeals.
But it wasn't long before the home side hit the front. Crichlow was dipossessed near the halfway line and the ball was played into David Hanlon in the right hand channel. His low cross found Paul Hanlon in an abundance of space just six yards out, and the midfielder tapped in.
Paul Hanlon got o n the scoresheet himself on 39 minutes, with another tap-in from a right wing cross, after Jamie Dolan had fed fullback Jack Collins.
Seaford's abysmal display merited nothing more than a two-goal deficit, but the visitors were gifted a lifeline late in the first half when Edenderry's keeper Johnny Havan shanked his clearance straight to Paul Lydon, and teed up strike partner Collie Dolan to pass the ball into the corner of the net from 25 yards, evading Havan as he scrambled back across his goalline.
Only then did Seaford show any signs of life. Lydon was denied a certain equaliser by a desperate diving block by Collins, and then fired just wide from 20 yards.
But if Seaford hoped their late flourish would inspire a second half improvement, it did not pan out that way. Despit Seaford controlling the ball for much of the second 45, they scarcely created a single chance of note, and Edenderry put a bullet in the lame horse with thirteen minutes to play by making it 3-1. Centre half Mark Young's long ball forward was midjudged by Bannon, allowing Byrne in on goal to slot home.
A run of five defeats in eight matches, dating back to December, threatens to neuter what had seemed like a promisng Seaford campaign. THe margin for error is fast disappearing if they still harbour any promotion ambitions.
Seaford: E English; S Kane (A Brennan, 69), J Nolan, M O'Neill, J Bannon; A Finnegan (A Roe, 62), T Crichlow (T Bennett, 81), P Shelton, S Faherty; C Dolan, P Lydon. Goals: C Dolan (43)
Edenderry Town: J Havan; J Collins, D Sherkle (K McGuinness, 82), M Young (S Quinn, 80), D Doyle, P Hanlon, A Farrell, J Dolan (R Pender, 74), D Hanlon, T Byrne, P McNamara. Goals: P Hanlon (27), D Hanlon (39) Byrne (77)
Paddy Maloney Park, 27 February 2016
With a squad ravaged by injuries, manager Alan Burns was forced to turn to yet another new centre back pairing, comprising John Bannon and Mike O'Neill, and there was a first start in midfield for second team captain Tommy Crichlow.
On a pitch surface that was only fit for inspiring Seamus Heaney poetry, the first half hour was characterised by niggling fouls and misplaced passes, and there wasn't a single effort on goal until the 25th minut, when Jamie Dolan found Tone Byrne, but he shot wide of the post amidst offside appeals.
But it wasn't long before the home side hit the front. Crichlow was dipossessed near the halfway line and the ball was played into David Hanlon in the right hand channel. His low cross found Paul Hanlon in an abundance of space just six yards out, and the midfielder tapped in.
Paul Hanlon got o n the scoresheet himself on 39 minutes, with another tap-in from a right wing cross, after Jamie Dolan had fed fullback Jack Collins.
Seaford's abysmal display merited nothing more than a two-goal deficit, but the visitors were gifted a lifeline late in the first half when Edenderry's keeper Johnny Havan shanked his clearance straight to Paul Lydon, and teed up strike partner Collie Dolan to pass the ball into the corner of the net from 25 yards, evading Havan as he scrambled back across his goalline.
Only then did Seaford show any signs of life. Lydon was denied a certain equaliser by a desperate diving block by Collins, and then fired just wide from 20 yards.
But if Seaford hoped their late flourish would inspire a second half improvement, it did not pan out that way. Despit Seaford controlling the ball for much of the second 45, they scarcely created a single chance of note, and Edenderry put a bullet in the lame horse with thirteen minutes to play by making it 3-1. Centre half Mark Young's long ball forward was midjudged by Bannon, allowing Byrne in on goal to slot home.
A run of five defeats in eight matches, dating back to December, threatens to neuter what had seemed like a promisng Seaford campaign. THe margin for error is fast disappearing if they still harbour any promotion ambitions.
Seaford: E English; S Kane (A Brennan, 69), J Nolan, M O'Neill, J Bannon; A Finnegan (A Roe, 62), T Crichlow (T Bennett, 81), P Shelton, S Faherty; C Dolan, P Lydon. Goals: C Dolan (43)
Edenderry Town: J Havan; J Collins, D Sherkle (K McGuinness, 82), M Young (S Quinn, 80), D Doyle, P Hanlon, A Farrell, J Dolan (R Pender, 74), D Hanlon, T Byrne, P McNamara. Goals: P Hanlon (27), D Hanlon (39) Byrne (77)
Paddy Maloney Park, 27 February 2016