The Penguins struggles continued as they suffered defeat for the eighth match in a row.

There wasn't much to choose between the sides during a first half that was low on chances,, as Seaford's trio of skilful midfielders caused the hosts some problems, but Seaford were denied by a couple of tight offside calls.

At the other end, Patrick Scully forced a brilliant save from Fionn McLoughlin and from the resulting corner, Oliver Bond took the lead, as Cillian Hudson headed home a whipped corner from Harrison McGrane Lynch.

But Seaford made a flying start to the second half, and were almost in front within five minutes. First, Jack Keegan  broke down the right and squared for Timi Silva, who thumped home from 25 yards to level the scored. Moments later debutant Mario Rodriguez thought had had netted with an equally spectacular effort, but Christopher Shannon produced a sensational save to claw the ball out of the top corner. 

And the Penguins suffered a hammer blow when Carlos Monserrat was penalised for a foul on Scully, with McGrane Lynch firing home the resulting penalty..

Seaford rallied. Reigning player-of-the-year Zitian Xiang found Keegan with a searching cross-field ball, who in turn picked out , but the big striker's shot took a deflection and bobbled into Shannon's hands.

It was 3-1 with sixteen to play when Seaford's diminutive team was again exposed at a set-piece, when Gerard Noone headed home another McGrane Lynch corner. There was a barrage of late pressure  from the Penguins orchestrated by Keegan, who whipped cross was almost headed into his own net by Oliver Bond skipper Dillon Quinn but ultimately it was another weekend of disappoint for Baz Kirwan's boys.

Seaford FC: Fionn McLoughlin, Eoin O'Farrell, Ran Tao, Zitian Xiang, Brian Murphy, Jack Keegan, Timi Silva, Mario Rodriguez (Chenghao Liu, 82), Desmond Eiffe (Louis O'Dea, 64), Carlos Monserrat (Oscar Farrell, 73), Danny Walsh

Oliver Bond Celtic: 1 Shannon Christopher, 2 Harrison McGrane Lynch, 3 Dillon Quinn, 6 Cillian Hudson, 8 Sam Lyons, 9 Patrick Scully,10 Gerard Noone, 11 Pedro Campos, 14 William Jones, 15 Jose Jimenez, 16 Sean Byrne Quinn

Brickfield Park, 29 November 2025

Photos courtesy of ​Rodney Smythe

A late winner from substitute Colin Hayes saw Wayside Celtic into the next round of the Noel Ryan Cup in a closely fought encounter at Jackson Park.

Despite the hosts starting as the bookies' favourites, there was noting between the sides for large parts, in a game characterised by both teams' industry and some decent play, but few clear-cut chances.

Seaford's classy holding midfielder Tomo Murphy went closest for the Penguins, and it took him just two minutes to hit the crossbar with a long-range effort.

At the other end, Wayside's powerful striker Darragh O'Connor led a quick counter-attack, laying in Raef Aherne whose low shot was expertly saved by Oisin Geoghegan. Centre-back Donal Moriarty ought to have broken the deadlock before half-time but was unable to convert with a close-range header. 

Murphy rattled the woodwork again straight after  with an extraordinary lob from the halfway line which had Lukas Kelly-Voigt backpedaling frantically, but as the second half wore, it was Celtic who looked more likely to score. 

Their big midfielder Ultan Woods was to the fore, testing Geoghegan with an overhead kick before smashing 25-yarder against the bar. And it was from his shot that they ended the stalemate, as Hayes redirected it towards  net.

Seaford rallied in search of a late equaliser. Substitute Timi SIlva attempted a sensational bicycle kick which Kelly-Voigt was able to deal with, before the Wayside stopper made a brilliant full-length save to keep out Murphy's strike, and the same man went close with a curling strike that just missed the top corner deep into injury time, but the hosts held out to secure their place in the next round. 

​Seaford: Oisin Geoghegan, Zitian Xiang (Craig Conlon, 86), Darragh Roche Sam Browne, Al Kennedy, Thomas Murphy, Jack Keegan Fionn Nally (Garrett Connolly, 79), Michael Akingbade, (Timi SIlva, 66), , Jamie McCaul (Conor Fennell, 66), Ryan Scollard 

Wayside Celtic:  1 Lukas Kelly-Voigt, 2 Matt Farrell, 3 Aaron Farrell, 5 Donal Moriarty, 6 Gavin Doyle, 7 Raef Aherne, 8 Ultan Woods,9 Darragh O'Connor, 10 Cian-Mitchell Doyle, 11 Paulius Rutkauskas, 20 Christopher Roche. Subs: 12 Luke Condon, 13 Brandon Byrne, 14 Michael Roberts, 15 Sam Brown, 16 Colin Hayes, 18 Darragh Scanlon

Seaford made it five wins on the bounce - every one of them away from home - with a clinical display in County Kildare.

Leixlip made a bright start and tested Oisin Geoghegan three times in the first seven minutes. First, dangerman Alex Akinrintoyo dribbled purposefully at the Seaford defender and land in Zac O'Sullivan, who was denied by a smart Geoghegan parry, before Akinrintoyo himself twice tested the big stopper, who was at his impervious best

The game had a frantic tempo, and at the other end Ian Daly found Ryan Scollard with  a brilliant pass, but Jamie Muddiman got down to make the save, before Jamie McCaul hooked a cross to the back post, where Fionn Nally was unable to force it home from a tight angle.

Alex Brady had a great opening for the hosts but miscued his finish and the breathless first half ended scoreless. 

The Penguins established more control of the game after the break, and Nally eventually made the breakthrough, finishing from close range age Scollard saw his effort hit the inside of the post.

Scollard might have had one of his own shortly after but failed to connect with McCaul’s sensational whipped cross after a great Sam Browne ball put him in down the wing.

The visitors’ rearguad, expertly led by Al Kennedy gave Geoghegan excellent protection , and the closest Leixlip came was when 6’s header clipped the top of the crossbar.

As the clock ticked over to 90 minutes, two of the Seaford subs combined for a great opportunity as Ran Tao found Michael Akingbade, whose finish was inches past the post 

But there was still time for the icing on the cake, as McCaul found Ben Kelly at the edge of the box, who lashed in with his left to seal the win

Seaford: Oisin Geoghegan, Zitian Xiang, Darragh Roche Sam Browne, Al Kennedy, Ben Kelly, Thomas Murphy, Fionn Nally (Michael Akingbade, 77), Jack Keegan, (Ran Tao, 82) Ian Daly, (Jamie McCaul 28), Ryan Scollard 

Leixlip United: 1 Jamie Muddiman, 2 Thomas McCormack, 3 Sean Curran, 4 Ethan Krstinic, 5 Dylan Horan, 6 Alex Lynch, 7 Alex Brady, 8 Edward Fagan, 9 Alex Akinrintoyo, 10 Joey O'Sullivan, 11 Zac O'Sullivan.  Subs: 12 Dillion George, 13 Harry Leigh, 14 Graham Hughes, 15 Eoin Hackett, 18 Lewis Kelly, 19 Luke O'Connor, 20 Noah Pardy Delaney.