Story of the Season: The Seconds

​It was another season of frustration and unfulfilled potential in Division 3 for Seaford, who enjoyed a strong second half to the season after a difficult start, to pull well clear of the relegation battle, but ultimately had to settle for a mid-table finish.

The start of the season couldn't have been tougher, with four matches in the space ten days, the first three of which were against the three clubs who would eventually pull well clear of the rest of the division to seal the promotion spots.

Seaford were comfortably beaten by each of Kill Celtic and Clontarf, but did manage a dramatic 1-0 win over AIB courtesy of Tony Bennett's 89th winner.

But it would be some time before Seaford enjoyed another win in the league, as a series of frustrating draws and heavy defeats saw them sink dangerously close to the foot of the table. The victory, when it finally came over Knockmitten United in November, was dramatic, as Seaford equalised three times at Rockfield Park before Chris Sastre volleyed home the winner.

However, three consecutive defeats during the rest of November put Seaford right back in the soup. The fixture list offered some consolation, as did the knowledge that the team had played within itself during the opening months, struggling for consistency in both selection and performances.

A superb performance away at Blessington proved a turning point, centre back Stephen Kelly heading two in a 3-0 win, before an equally dominant display produced the same scoreline at Ratoath Harps, to give Seaford some breathing space. 

The expanded Vere Deane Cup offered a shot at silverware, but narrow 2-1 defeats against Blessington and Knockmitten condemned Seaford to a group-stage elimination despite impressive wins over Mid-Sutton and Cloghertown United.

The league campaign resumed in April, as Seaford made it five wins from six to complete the season. The start of that month's matches was unquestionably striker Carl Doyle, who bagged a hat-trick against Blessington in his first start for three years, before adding two more off the bench at home to Mid Sutton and ending as the seconds' top goalscorer with another brace, in a famous end-of-season win over title-chasing Kill Celtic, sealed by MJ Tierney's stunning 94th minute free-kick.

Results 2016/17

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Date	Competition	Opposition				Goalscorers	Report
20 Aug 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Kill Celtic	A	1-3	L	Mulhall
22 Aug 16	LSL Sat Div 3	AIB	H	1-0	W	Bennett	Link
27 Aug 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Clontarf	H	1-5	L	Crichlow
29 Aug 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Mid Sutton Sportslink	A	1-4	L	Johnson-Barker
10 Sep 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Hyde Park	H	1-1	D	Kelly	Link
24 Sep 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Malahide United	H	1-1	D	Benson
1 Oct 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Cloghertown United	A	1-4	L	Farrelly
8 Oct 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Knockmitten United	A	3-3	D	Farrelly (2), Ralph	Link
15 Oct 16	LFA Junior Shield	Frankfort FC	H	5-4	W	J O’Brien (2), Mulhall, Finnegan, Tierney
29 Oct 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Hyde Park	A	1-4	L	McNelis	Link
5 Nov 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Knockmitten United	H	4-3	W	Mulhall, McNelis, Ralph, Sastre	Link
12 Nov 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Clontarf	A	1-4	L	Farrelly
19 Nov 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Cloghertown United	H	1-3	L	S Kelly
26 Nov 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Malahide United	A	0-3	L		Link
10 Dec 16	LSL Sat Div 3	Blessington	A	3-0	W	S Kelly (2), Mulhall	Link
21 Jan 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Ratoath Harps	A	3-0	W	Mulhall, Roe, Monk	Link
11 Feb 17	Vere Deane Cup	Blessington	A	1-2	L	S Kane	Link
18 Feb 17	Vere Deane Cup	Cloghertown United	H	2-0	W	Tierney (2)	Link
25 Feb 17	Vere Deane Cup	Mid Sutton Sportslink	A	2-0	W	Roe, M Kane
11 Mar 17	Vere Deane Cup	Knockmitten United	H	1-2	L	Donnelly	Link
1 Apr 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Blessington	H	3-1	W	Doyle (3)	Link
8 Apr 17	LSL Sat Div 3	AIB	A	1-5	L	Mulhall	Link
24 Apr 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Mid Sutton Sportslink	H	5-1	W	C Geoghegan, Mackey, Higgins, Doyle (2)	Link
29 Apr 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Kill Celtic	H	3-2	W	Doyle (2), Tierney	Link

 

Statistics 2016/17

Player	App	Gls	Ass	Yel	Red	Mins
Shane Lauritsch	21	0	2	0	1	1398
Frank Mulhall	19	6	3	5	0	1266
Darren Grealish	16	0	0	3	0	1236
David Devaney	12	0	4	1	0	979
Steve Kane	11	1	2	1	0	934
Donal Howley	11	0	5	0	0	869
Adam Finnegan	8	1	0	0	0	720
Eoin English	8	0	0	0	0	720
Matt Tappin	13	0	0	3	0	716
Mark O'Brien	9	0	1	1	0	707
Stephen Kelly	9	4	2	2	0	683
Daire Ralph	13	2	2	0	0	676
Conor Geoghegan	8	1	2	0	0	654
Chris Sastre	14	1	1	0	0	638
Alan Brennan	7	0	0	2	0	630
Barry Kirwan	8	0	0	0	0	588
Amer Herenda	8	0	1	0	0	571
David Mackey	11	1	1	2	0	560
Andy Roe	7	2	0	0	0	557
Robbie Murray	8	0	1	1	0	519
MJ Tierney	6	4	3	1	0	472
Oisin Geoghegan	5	0	0	0	0	450
Dylan O'Reilly	5	0	0	1	0	450
Theo Cullinane	5	0	0	0	0	448
Marc Smith	7	0	1	1	1	417
Tommy Crichlow	5	1	0	0	0	391
Paddy Farrelly	5	4	0	0	0	390
Luke Ginnell	4	0	0	0	0	360
Carl Doyle	7	7	1	0	0	325
Mikey Kane	8	1	0	0	0	319
Jim Nolan	4	0	2	0	0	313
Wouter Hoek	10	0	0	1	0	309
Tyrone McNelis	3	2	2	1	0	270
Tony Bennett	5	1	1	0	0	247
Paidi O'Fatharta	3	0	0	0	0	221
Denis Donnelly	5	1	1	0	0	221
Chris Monk	3	1	1	0	0	193
Jake Macken	2	0	0	0	0	180
James O'Neill	2	0	1	0	0	180
John Bannon	2	0	0	0	0	180
Piers Shelton	2	0	0	0	0	180
Fionn Geoghegan	2	0	0	0	0	180
Dean Wallace	2	0	0	1	0	160
Liam O'Keeffe	3	0	0	0	0	160
Stephen Johnson-Barker	2	1	0	0	0	120
Dave Higgins	2	1	0	2	0	115
John O'Brien	2	2	0	0	0	110
Stephen Faherty	1	0	0	0	0	90
Darragh Roche	1	0	0	0	0	90
John Power	1	0	0	0	0	90
Mark Cullen	1	0	0	0	1	90
Alan Benson	1	1	0	0	0	84
Conor Fitzpatrick	2	0	0	0	0	82
Frank Daly	3	0	0	0	0	75
Neil Harrington	1	0	0	0	0	65
Luke Kelly	1	0	0	1	0	35