Seaford ended their miserable run of nine straight defeats to claim a comeback victory over high-flying Ballyoulster.

The Penguins hit the front after two minutes when  Niall Holleran pounced on a loose pass and lobbed the ball into the net from a tight angle. 

Ballyoulster’s Riley Houghton had a great chance to level quickly on a breakaway from corner kick but Fionn McLoughlin denied him with a foot save, before Jamie Keane fizzed in a low cross which Sol Scanlon should have converted.

And the hosts leveled on 15 through Aaron Perry who wriggled through the Seaford defence before finishing low. 

There was an element of fortune about Ballyoulster’s second , as a Ryan Lynch tackle broken kindly for Houghton, who made no mistake.

The blues continued to offer the greater threat after the break with McLoughlin denying Houghton again, but at the other end Danny Walsh was just wide with a diving header and Holleran cracked a left footed volley just over. 

Seaford drew level on 66, as debutant Alan McGeady met Jack Keegan’s corner with a bullet header, and Greg Hughes  buried the rebound. 

And the turnaround was complete a few minutes later when with his first touch after coming on as a sub , Carlos Monserrat volleyed home a brilliant Holleran cross.

It got even better for the visitors when Holleran slotted home his second for 4-2, and then commenced a rearguard action as the Kildare men pushed forward frantically in search of a way back into the game. 

But McLoughlin was in impervious form , comfortably dealing with a couple of
Matthew Berrigan potshots and punching away a series of crosses to see his team home.

The three points lift Baz Kirwan’s side out of the relegation zone. 

Seafprd:  Fionn McLoughlin, Rory Carberry, Aaron Clarke, Fionn Geoghegan, Alan McGeady (Zitian Xiang, 80), Daniel Mac Dermott (Michael Aherne-Gray, 83), Jack Keegan, Niall Holleran (Oisin Mallon, 90+1), Greg Hughes, Mario Rodriguez (Carlos Monserrat, 70), Danny Walsh (Desmond Eiffe, 78)

​Ballyoulster United:  1 Liam O’Donovan,2 Tariq Budwa,  3 Mark Caulfield, 4 Conor Fitzharris,  5 Josh Nevin, 6 Matthew Berrigan,  7 Jamie Keane, 8 Aaron Perry,  9 Riley Houghton, 10 Ryan Lynch,  11 Sol Scanlon. Subs: 18 Michael Keegan, 12 Michael Mahoney, 13 Conor Allen, 14 Sean Mahoney, 15 Weza Loureiro, 16 Stephen Proudfoot 17 Ciaran Griffin

Our annual legends match took place last night in Benildus, raising a few bob for ARC Cancer Support Centres. 

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Seaford hearts were broken by a late Montpelier winner after a gritty display by Baz Kirwan's boys.

The division's runaway leaders had a perfect record for the season when they arrived at a blustery Rockfield Park, and despite enduring a horrible losing streak at the foot of the table, the Penguins put it up to the northsiders, only to be cruelly denied at the death.

The home side's veteran keeper Eoin English had to be at his best in the first half, producing a brilliant full-length save to keep out Darragh Foran's ferocious blast. At the other end, captain Eoin O'Farrell created the first Seaford opening, winning the ball high up the pitch and laying in Danny Walsh, who fired just wide.

But Walsh made no mistake on 21 when he opened the scoring, smashing home a volley when Ran Tao's corner broke to him in the box.

The lead was short-lived, as Monto's fullback Luke McGinn forced home from close range after Rory Carberry made a goalline block to keep out Foran's effort, and deep into first-half stoppage time  Adam O'Keeffe made it 2-1 after being set up by Gerard Loftus.

MP maintained the momentum early in the second half, with Loftus clipping the woodwork from long range, before Seaford battled back into the match. O'Farrell and Walsh combined well again, as the skipper set up the big striker with a clever back-heel, but Dean Harte managed to intervene and snuff out the chance. Then, Mario Rodriguez went close with a whipped free-kick but Arturs Olesovs was able to tip it over. And it was Rodriguez who bagged the equaliser on 67, firing home his first Seaford goal after Montpelier failed to deal with a Niall Holleran cross.

It was all the play for now. Scott Tyrrell got clean through for the visitors but struggled to bring the ball under control, and English blocked with his feet. Then a brilliant chance for Seaford on a swift breakaway, as Rodriguez led the counter-attack and found Daniel Mac Dermott rampaging forward from right back. But as the Rockfield tuft cut up underfoot, the ball bobbled up at the crucial moment and caused Mac Dermott's finish to fly over the bar.

And moments later at the other end the luckless Mac Dermott was once against jinxed by the surface, slipping as he was about to clear the ball and allowing Vinicius Silva to slot home for 3-2.

Seaford poured forward in search of an eqauliser, forcing Monto into panicked defending, and the final chance fell to Holleran whose flicked header from Mac Dermott cross was just too high, but men in yellow couldn't find the net for third time. No points, but a brave performance that will give encouragement for the rest of the season.

Seaford FC:  Eoin English, Daniel Mac Dermott, Rory Carberry, Bill Phelan (Mate Salacan, 86), Brian Murphy, Ben Kelly, Ran Tao (Greg Hughes, 65), Eoin O'Farrell, Niall Holleran, Mark Murnaghan (Mario Rodriguez, 17), Danny Walsh 

Montpelier FC: 1 Arturs Arnolds Olesovs, 2 Luke McGinn 3 Bradley O'Shea, 4 Gerard Black, 5 Dean Harte, 6 Sean Gannon, 7 Darragh Foran,  8 Scott Tyrrell, 9 Paul McCullagh, 10 Gerard Loftus, 11 Adam O'Keeffe. Subs: 12 Adam Garvey, 13 Jake McCormack, 14 Peter Foran, 15 Aidan O'Brien, 16 Vinicius Silva, 17 Daniele Scarpi

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.

​Seaford made it three straight wins on the road as they eliminated  divisional rivals Leixlip United to progress  in the Leinster Junior Cup.

The two teams have been neck and neck in Major 1 for three straight seasons and that was reflected in a fairly even first half. Leixlip’s best efforts were from range , as Alex Brady saw his powerful 25 yard effort tipped over by debutant keeper Fionn McLoughlin, and Joey O’Sullivan later rattled the woodwork with a curling strike from a similar distance.

In between, Jack Keegan had hit the post for Seaford, after he eluded  onrushing keeper Conor Little but was unable to keep the finish on target, and skipper Al Kennedy was inches wide with a piledriver.

The best chance of the half fell to Michael Akingbade, who was put in by Ben Kelly but Little flew off his line to spread himself and smother the opportunity. 

After the break , the game became disjointed with few chances at either end but Seaford made the breakthrough on 73 and for the second week in a row it was Sam Browne who bagged the winner , this time getting on the end of a sumptuous delivery from Brian Murphy.

It could have been two very soon after, as Ryan Scollard set up sub Fionn Nally but again Little did brilliantly to deny him.

In contrast, McLoughlin had a relatively quiet afternoon as the Penguins  saw out the win with a resolute display from the back four of Murohy, Browne, Craig Conlon and Darragh Roche.

A trip to Raheny United awaits in round 2.

Seaford progressed to the second round of the Noel Ryan Cup with a win that was more comfortable  than the final scoreline would suggest.

Kevin's keeper Jamie O'Brien made several impressive saves, none better than on 15 minutes when he somehow denied Timi SIlva from point-blank range after the Spanish midfielder met Garrett Connolly's headed flick-on.

Seaford continued to control the match and almost broke the deadlock with a brilliant flowing move on 24, but Aaron Dequina managed to block Michael Akingbade's back-post header..

But they made the breakthrough from the resulting corner, which was collected at the back post by Ian Daly, =whose and his clipped cross was nodded home by Sam Browne.

The Penugins could have added to their lead when Jamie McCaul fed Connolly with a great pass, but O'Brien rushed off his line to block the shot.

It wasn't until the 71st minute that the hosts registered an effort on goal, and Oisin Geoghegan was comfortably able to deal with Austin Hannon's header.

Seaford continued to push for a second , with Rob O'Shea testing O'Brien again with a powerful drive, but in the end Browne's goal was enough to secure safe passage into round two.

Seaford: Oisin Geoghegan, Rob O'Shea Brian Murphy, (Zitian Xiang, 88) Sam Browne, Craig Conlon, Al Kennedy, Timi SIlva (Ben Kelly, 81)   Michael Akingbade (Jack Keegan, 67) Jamie McCaul (Niall Holleran, 88) Ian Daly, (Darragh Roche, 67) Garrett Connolly

St Kevin's: 1 Jamie O'Brien, 2 Eoin Duffy, 3 Luke Bolton, 4 Aaron Dequina, 5 Marc Notaro, 6 Kevin McFadden, 7 Adam Mitchell Lees, 8 Martin Matsekh, 9 Nathan Maher, 10 Evan McGee, 11 Ali Abdul Salam Ali Al Madani . Subs: Keith Rooney, Benjamin Norths, Austin Hannon, Jordan Farry

It took an amazing goal and an amazing save, but Seaford clung on to snatch three points they scarcely deserved against the highly talented young UCD team.

Seaford made a bright start the early stages but once UCD got a foothold in the game, they took control, with Oisin Geoghegan making a point-blank save to deny Calum Howard, and  Jack O'Flaherty almost got  clean through after out-maneuvering Craig Conlon, but  the Seaford man was able to get back around to put pressure on and the big UCD striker shot just off target.

But it was Timi SIlva who made the breakthrough for Seaford, volleying in from close-range after Michael Akingbade squared the ball to him.

UCD levelled on the stroke of half-time, as the Penguins missed several chances to clear their lines and they were punished by Patrick Collins, who shot home low from the edge of the box.

Seaford didn't waste any time restoring their lead early into the second half, and it was a stunning strike from Silva, crashing home a 20-yard volley that gave Charlie McGrath no chance.

The visitors had been second best before the half but were much improved after the break and looked more likely to add to the scoring, with Conor Fennell seeing an effort deflected just wide, before Ben Kelly fired just wide from range. 

The Students gained momentum in the final stages, and subjected the Penguins defence to an almighty onslaught. Seaford's rearguard held firm for the most part, as Conlon and skipper Al Kennedy repelled attack after attack.

​But the crucial intervention was from Geoghegan, who flung himself across his goal to pluck the ball out of the top corner, where Coleman King's deflected shot seemed certain to drop. It was as spectacular a save as one would see at any level of the game and worthy of securing another win to send Seaford top of the table. 
  

Seaford: Oisin Geoghegan, Darragh Roche, Zitian Xiang (Brian Murphy, 67) Craig Conlon, Al Kennedy, Ben Kelly, Rob O'Shea,  Timi SIlva (Sam Browne, 90+1) Jack Keegan  Conor Fennell (Fionn Nally, 73)  Michael Akingbade (Ian Daly, 66)

UCD: 1 Charlie McGrath, 2 Alex O'Shea, 3 Coleman King, 4 Eoin Cunningham, 5 Calum Howard, 6 Cian Bolger, 7 Eoghan Murphy, 8 Finn McDonnell, 9 Patrick Collins, 10 Jack O'Flaherty, 11 Aidan Kane (13 Shaun Russell)