Story of the Season: The Seconds

The most frequently selected team, based on minutes played

Seaford enjoyed a strong finish to the 2017/18 campaign to secure a top-half finish in LSL Division 3.

Tony Bennett got off to a brilliant start as second team manager with two away wins in the space of three days, at Hyde Park and Pegasus St James’s, but the team hit the buffers with a resounding defeat in their first home match, against an Ayrfield United side who would go on blow away much of the division during the early part of the campaign.

The team had no luck in the two subsequent matches away to promotion contenders, conceding late goals to draw at Lorcan Celtic and lose at Ardmore Rovers, and overall they endured a rotten spell during the wintertime, picking up just two wins from 12, against relegation-bound Earl Celtic and DCU.

But the turning point of the season was a heroic away win over title-chasing Balbriggan at the end of March, with top goalscorer Peter Tierney smashing home a late penalty after Richie Mulholland had earlier opened the scoring.

That sparked a run of three straight away wins, the others being against Cloghertown United and Knockmitten United, and although the progress was stunted by another loss to Ayrfield and an unlucky home draw against Tymon Bawn, the team bounced back with a four-match winning streak, despatching Malahide United, Hyde, Knockmitten and Lorcan.

Among the key players during the run were defensive stalwarts Adam Finnegan, Matty Tappin and Robbie Murray, who benefited from protection from Amer Herenda, redeployed at the base of the midfield, and further forward Shane Lauritsch, David Devaney and Ryan Scollard were all in in superb form supplying the likes of Tierney, who finished the season with 12 goals.
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Although promotion was ultimately a bridge too far for Bennett’s man, 2017/18 represented another season of progression for a Seaford side which has developed a brilliant ability to triumph against the odds in recent years.

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Second Team Matches 2017/18

Date	Competition	Opposition					Goalscorers		Report
26 Aug 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Hyde Park	A	3-1		W	Howley, Ralph, P Tierney		Link
28 Aug 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Pegasus / St James’s	A	1-0	W		Monk	Link
2 Sep 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Ayrfield United	H	1-6		L	P Tierney		Link
9 Sep 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Lorcan Celtic	A	2-2		D	O’Fatharta, C Murphy
16 Sep 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Ardmore Rovers	A	2-3		L	G Connolly (2)
23 Sep 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Cloghertown United	H	2-4		L	S Murphy, P Tierney
7 Oct 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Earl Celtic	H	6-2		W	Scollard (2), P Tierney (2), M Tierney, Murray		Link
14 Oct 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Tymon Bawn	A	1-3		L	Sullivan
28 Oct 17	LSL Sat Div 3	DCU	A	2-1		W	Scollard (2)		Link
4 Nov 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Balbriggan	H	1-1		D	Devaney		Link
11 Nov 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Malahide United	A	0-1		L
2 Dec 17	LSL Sat Div 3	Ardmore Rovers	H	2-2		D	P Tierney (2)		Link
27 Jan 17	Deane Cup	Mid Sutton Sportslink	H	2-5		L	O’Fatharta, C Barrett		Link
24 Feb 18	LSL Sat Div 3	Pegasus / St James’s	H	1-3		L	C Murphy
31 Mar 18	LSL Sat Div 3	Balbriggan	A	2-1		W	Mulholland, P Tierney		Link
14 Apr 18	LSL Sat Div 3	Cloghertown United	A	2-1		W	C Barrett, P TIerney
16 Apr 18	LSL Sat Div 3	Knockmitten United	A	2-0		W	P Tierney, Scollard
21 Apr 18	LSL Sat Div 3	Ayrfield United	A	1-4		L	Mackey
23 Apr 18	LSL Sat Div 3	Tymon Bawn	H	1-1		D	C Murphy		Link
28 Aor 18	LSL Sat Div 3	Malahide United	H	2-1		W	Lauritsch, Devaney
30 Apr 18	LSL Sat Div 3	Hyde Park	H	2-1		W	Tappin, Higgins		Link
12 May 18	LSL Sat Div 3	Knockmitten United	H	3-2		W	Devaney (2), S Kane
14 May 18	LSL Sat Div 3	Lorcan Celtic	H	3-0		W	P Tierney, Scollard, C Murphy		Link
19 May 18	LSL Sat Div 3	Earl Celtic	A	2-5		L	Devaney, Scollard
21 May 18	LSL Sat Div 3	DCU	H	3-3		D	Tierney, Kelly, Tansey		Link

 

Second Team Statistics 2017/18

Player	App	Gls	Ass	Yel	Red	Mins
Robbie Murray	20	1	2	0	2	1690
Peter Tierney	19	12	7	1	0	1620
Shane Lauritsch	21	1	5	0	0	1589
Darren Grealish	19	0	0	0	0	1487
Amer Herenda	17	0	1	0	0	1290
Matt Tappin	20	1	1	1	0	1263
Adam Finnegan	16	0	0	0	0	1236
Ryan Scollard	14	7	1	2	0	1201
David Devaney	16	5	2	2	0	1133
Eoin English	9	0	0	0	0	810
Stephen Kelly	8	1	1	0	0	695
Paidi O'Fatharta	11	2	4	0	0	597
Coly McCarron	12	0	1	1	0	576
Collie Barrett	7	2	3	0	0	511
Fionn Geoghegan	6	0	2	0	0	480
Donal Howley	6	1	2	0	0	471
Carl Doyle	15	0	4	0	0	453
Simon McGinty	5	0	0	0	0	450
Conan Murphy	6	4	0	0	0	403
Gavin Walsh	5	0	1	1	0	362
Steve Kane	5	1	1	0	0	356
Francis Mulhall	6	0	1	1	0	350
Stevie Murphy	5	1	0	0	0	317
Ian Nolan	5	0	0	0	0	310
Tony Bennett	5	0	0	0	0	304
Chris Monk	4	1	0	0	0	301
Jim Nolan	5	0	1	0	0	290
Karl Stakelum	5	0	0	0	0	278
Oisin Geoghegan	3	0	0	0	0	270
Mike O'Neill	5	0	1	0	0	267
Eoin Mahon	6	0	0	0	0	260
Mikey Kane	10	0	0	0	0	227
Alan Clarke	3	0	0	0	0	219
Shay Egan	4	0	0	0	0	216
Daire Ralph	6	1	0	0	0	212
Richard Barrett	3	0	0	0	0	208
Luke Ginnell	2	0	0	0	0	180
Paul Tansey	2	1	0	0	0	180
Robbie Moran	2	0	0	0	0	180
David Mackey	3	1	0	0	0	178
Gavin Stakelum	6	0	0	0	0	172
MJ Tierney	3	1	2	0	0	150
Mark Sullivan	2	1	0	0	0	147
Dave Higgins	2	1	0	0	0	135
Richie Mulholland	2	1	1	0	0	116
Garrett Connolly	1	2	0	0	0	90
Danny Redmond	1	0	0	0	0	90
Barry Kirwan	1	0	0	0	0	90
Stephen Faherty	2	0	0	0	0	82
Brian Mullally	2	0	0	0	0	78
Paul Lydon	1	0	0	0	0	73
Kevin Cunningham	1	0	0	0	0	28
Conor Geoghegan	2	0	0	0	0	23
JP Kennedy	2	0	0	0	0	15
Marc Smith	1	0	0	0	0	15
Rory O'Huiginn	1	0	0	0	0	9