Match Report: Leicester Celtic 1-1 Seaford FC
LSL Major 1C
Seaford dug deep and nicked a late equaliser to deny title-chasing Leicester Celtic the win in a feisty encounter at Damien Duff Park.
Cillian Moloney opened the scoring for the hosts inside ten minutes, collecting Adam O'Leary ‘s pass before slotting into the bottom corner.
Against giant opponents on a very tight pitch, Seaford initially struggled to get up to the frantic tempo on the match but once they settled, they began creating chances, with Niall Holleran forcing a great parry by Charles Delmotte, before the powerful winger teed up Ryan Scollard whose effort was deflected wide.
At the other end Moloney missed a great chance to double his tally after Mohamed Rahuma had led a quick breakaway and Jared Gutherless made a fine block to deny Darragh Mooney.
Celtic flew out of the traps after the break, and the Penguins were indebted to a brilliant goalline clearance by Oisin Mallon - forced into service as an emergency centre back - after Mooney got in again.
Gutherless made two sensational saves the space of a minute to keep Seaford in it, first stopping from O’Leary from point blank range, before somehow getting in the way of Rahuma’s ferocious smash at goal.
But Seaford turned the tide again, with substitute Finn O'Neill volleying inches wide from Zitian Xiang’s cross, before the indefatigable Ben Kelly burst forward to lay in Scollard, only for Delmotte to make a spectacular save to keep out the powerful finish.
And the visitors grabbed an equaliser with just six to play as Scollard ran on to Xiang’s ball and showed great composure to pick out the corner of the net.
There was late drama as Seaford had a huge penalty shout turned down in injury time when rapid winger Shaun Russell seemed to be tripped in the box, but overall a point apiece was a fair outcome, and Baz Kirwan’s boys return to action against league-leaders SVS.
Seaford: Jared Gutherless (Jamie Thompson, 90+3) Zitian Xiang, Aaron Clarke, Fionn Geoghegan (Oisin Mallon, 39) Al Kennedy, Mate Salacan (Shaun Russell, 66), Ran Tao, Ben Kelly, Niall Holleran, Sam Belghazi (Finn O'Neill, 51 ) Ryan Scollard
Leicester Celtic: 1 Charles Delmotte, 2 Daniel Lysaght, 3 Emmet Lawless, 4 Karl Funge, 5 Daniel McCullagh, 6 Alex Skinner, 7 Darragh Mooney, 8 Louie Byrne, 9 Cillian Moloney, 10 Adam O'Leary, 11 Mohamed Rahuma. Subs: 12 Kevin Burke, 13 Craig Kavanagh, 14 Diego Perez de Silva, 15 Colm Maguire, 16 Conor Gobbett, 17 Stephen Scully, 18 Adria Martinez
Damien Duff Park, 11 April 2025
Cillian Moloney opened the scoring for the hosts inside ten minutes, collecting Adam O'Leary ‘s pass before slotting into the bottom corner.
Against giant opponents on a very tight pitch, Seaford initially struggled to get up to the frantic tempo on the match but once they settled, they began creating chances, with Niall Holleran forcing a great parry by Charles Delmotte, before the powerful winger teed up Ryan Scollard whose effort was deflected wide.
At the other end Moloney missed a great chance to double his tally after Mohamed Rahuma had led a quick breakaway and Jared Gutherless made a fine block to deny Darragh Mooney.
Celtic flew out of the traps after the break, and the Penguins were indebted to a brilliant goalline clearance by Oisin Mallon - forced into service as an emergency centre back - after Mooney got in again.
Gutherless made two sensational saves the space of a minute to keep Seaford in it, first stopping from O’Leary from point blank range, before somehow getting in the way of Rahuma’s ferocious smash at goal.
But Seaford turned the tide again, with substitute Finn O'Neill volleying inches wide from Zitian Xiang’s cross, before the indefatigable Ben Kelly burst forward to lay in Scollard, only for Delmotte to make a spectacular save to keep out the powerful finish.
And the visitors grabbed an equaliser with just six to play as Scollard ran on to Xiang’s ball and showed great composure to pick out the corner of the net.
There was late drama as Seaford had a huge penalty shout turned down in injury time when rapid winger Shaun Russell seemed to be tripped in the box, but overall a point apiece was a fair outcome, and Baz Kirwan’s boys return to action against league-leaders SVS.
Seaford: Jared Gutherless (Jamie Thompson, 90+3) Zitian Xiang, Aaron Clarke, Fionn Geoghegan (Oisin Mallon, 39) Al Kennedy, Mate Salacan (Shaun Russell, 66), Ran Tao, Ben Kelly, Niall Holleran, Sam Belghazi (Finn O'Neill, 51 ) Ryan Scollard
Leicester Celtic: 1 Charles Delmotte, 2 Daniel Lysaght, 3 Emmet Lawless, 4 Karl Funge, 5 Daniel McCullagh, 6 Alex Skinner, 7 Darragh Mooney, 8 Louie Byrne, 9 Cillian Moloney, 10 Adam O'Leary, 11 Mohamed Rahuma. Subs: 12 Kevin Burke, 13 Craig Kavanagh, 14 Diego Perez de Silva, 15 Colm Maguire, 16 Conor Gobbett, 17 Stephen Scully, 18 Adria Martinez
Damien Duff Park, 11 April 2025