Photos courtesy of Rodney Smythe

Returning to action after an extraodinary spell of 71 days without a match , Seaford showed no signs of rustiness but fell just short against title-chasing Malahide.

The hosts had the first chance when dangerous winger Jack Combey collected a long ball from Dylan Meade, but after cutting inside his shot was deflected wide. After that, it was the Penguiins who made most of the running, their dynamic front cfour causing the hosts all sorts of problems. 

First,  Ryan Scollard found winger Fionn Nally, whose vicious cross just eluded  Jamie McCaul . Then, the magic man  Ian Daly found McCaul with a no-look pass, and again it was worked wide to Nally, who chopped inside but coudln't find the finish from a tight angle.

The best chance of all was in the final minute of the half, after skipper Al Kennedy released Nally with a quick free-kick. Nally did brilliantly to whip in a cross, with Scollard sliding in to volley home at the back post, but misjudged it by milimetres and missed the target from close-range.

The only goal of the game was early in the second half, through Combey who produced a lovely glancing header to finish Pierce Walsh's cross, after Seaford had briefly tuned out from a corker.

The Penguins fought back and almost leveled instantly as Sam Browne flicked on for Scollard, whose header clattered the crossbar.

The ball just woudln't go in for the visitors. Daly ran on to a punt forward from Oisin Geoghegan,  leaving a defender for dead as he worked it on to his trusty left foot, but keeper Brian Kane somehow managed to claw the ball away from the bottom corner.

Malahide had a couple of dangerous breaks as Seaford went for broke, but the action was ostly down the other end, the final chance of the game falling to Scollard in the 92 minute, as he met Kennedy's cross with a volley, but again it was just off-target.

The same sides meet again next week, in what will be Seaford's first home match since September.


Seaford: Oisin Geoghegan, Darragh Roche  Brian Murphy (Niall Holleran, 80), Sam Browne,  Craig Conlon, Al Kennedy, Rob O'Shea,  Fionn Nally Jamie McCaul (Conor Fennell, 68), Ian Daly,,  Ryan Scollard 

Malahide United: 1 Brian Kane, 2 Finlay McDiarmid,  3 Dylan Meade, 4 Aaron Maher, 5 Tim Doherty, 6 Sam McAllister, 7 Pierce Walsh, 8 Tim Kelly, 9 Jack Combey,  10 Harrison Maher 11 Alan O'Shaughnessy. Subs: 12 Henry Amoateng, 13 Mark Logan, 14 Adam McGrane, 15 Nathan Reilly, 16 Sam Reynolds, 17 Christian McDonnell, 18 Gavin Murphy

Seaford showed their mettle with another gutsy second half fightback, as Greg Hughes's second half brace rescued a point to boost their survival hopes. 

Within the first 40 seconds, the Penguins were indebted to their young keeper Fionn McLoughlin inside who made a stunning tip over the bar to deny Mohammed Elamin a spectacular opener. 

But he was unable to prevent Elamin bagging on 17 minutes, as the Castleknock skipper converted a smart assist from Ben O’Neill. 

McLoughlin made a routine save to deny Mark Dromey’s drive before Ian McSherry fizzed one just over from range. 

Seaford had plenty of the play in threatening areas without clear cut chances, until Jack Keegan whipped in a great cross which Mario Rodriguez was unable to convert at the back post. 

Ryan Scollard bailed out the Penguins with a brilliant goalline clearance after Evan Ryan flicked Gavin Boyne’s corner towards goal.  And Scollard had the best chance of all in the final minute of the half after Eoin Mahon released Rodriguez down the left, and Scollard met the cross  with a powerful header which was gathered by keeper Alex Moore 

But the second half began just as the first , with McLoughlin making a fine stop to deny Elamin, and this time Ryan was in hand to bury the rebound.

Seaford earned a lifeline on 53 through Hughes, who converted Keegan’s pass after a clever quick  free kick from Rob O'Shea.

The momentum was with the visitor now, with O’Shea testing Moore from the edge of the box, and Hughes made it 2-2 on 63 , poaching from close range after Niall Holleran’s towering header hit the crossbar. 

The Penguins’ tails were up  , especially when the hosts were reduced to ten when Ryan picked up a second yellow. Scollard let rio from 22 yards, but it was just too high, and Hughes fluffed a chance for a hat-trick, spooning his shot straight at Moore. 

The pendulum swung back towards Castleknock in a hectic finale, but Seaford’s Shane Halpin had the marchsavjng intervention, sliding in to divert a low cross wide of the post and deny a certain goal, securing the  point for Baz Kirwan’s boys.

Seaford:  Fionn McLoughlin, Rory Carberry, Aaron Clarke, Fionn Geoghegan (Eoin Mahon, 8) Eoin O'Farrell (Niall Holleran, 51), Greg Hughes (Shane Halpin, 77), Jack Keegan, Rob O'Shea  , Mario Rodriguez (Oisin Mallon, 82) Ryan Scollard

Castleknock Celtic: 1 Alex Moore 2 Mark Dromey 3 Josh Huff 4 Adam Kaiser 5 Ian McSherry 6 Mark Hughes 7 Killian Creaner 8 Mohammed Elamin 9 Ben O'Neill 10 Gavin Boyne 11 Evan Ryan Subs: 12 Adelin Dusenge13 Adam Coffey 14 Leigh Reilly 15 Brighton Mabaso 16 Ryan Maher 17 Michael Mensah 18 Felipe Larios Ortiz