Match Report: Seaford 3-2 Mount Merrion

Match Report: Seaford 3-2 Mount Merrion
​LSL Saturday Major 1C

Seaford got off to a winning start in Major 1C after a battling display at Rockfield Park.

It was the youthful Mount Merrion side who opened the scoring on 7 minutes when danger man Callum Dunne punished a defensive error and fired home from the edge of the box, but two goals in a minute gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead. 

First, Niall Holleran bagged an opening day goal for the third consecutive season, meeting Al Kennedys corner with a bullet header to give Himzah Alzaqi no chance, before Jamie McCaul pounced on a loose pass and curled it into the net from 20 yards.

Merrion had a great chance to equalise  on 24 when fullback Luca Cross but keeper  Fionn McLoughlin  made a brilliant reaction save on the day he became the youngest Seaford player in the club’s 54-year history.

It got even better for the hosts when  Shane Halpin bundled home a third, and it should have been 4-1 when Ben Kelly, slotted Michael Akingbade in on goal but the Seaford striker was unable to convert.

The second half was a war of attrition as the rain poured down, with Halpin going close to sealing the points after Akingbade’s sublime backheel, but otherwise chances were at a premium.

The visitors did pull one back with a minute to play courtesy of Christian Buckley but the Penguins rearguard held firm to secure three points for Baz Kirwan’s boys 

Seaford: Fionn McLoughlin, Zitian Xiang, Aaron Clarke, Al Kennedy, Fionn Geoghegan, Ran Tao (Michael Aherne-Gray, 77), Ben Kelly, Shane Halpin (Mathias Puzzolante, 90 + 1), Niall Holleran  (Finn O'Neill, 77), Jamie McCaul )Marcus Carroll, 64), Michael Akingbade.(Conor Fennell, 90)

Mount Merrion: 1 Humzah Alraqi, 2 Daniel Lee, 3 Luca Cross, 4 James O Brien, 5 Conn Lucy, 6 Kyle Taylor, 7 Luca Ryan, 8 Lucas Stokes, 9 Matthew Green Delany, 10 William Griffin, 11 Callum Dunne. Subs: 12 Jinu Nam, 13 Adam O’Toole, 14 Daniel Drimba, 15 Conor O’Buachalla, 16 Christian Buckley