Match Report: Rush Athletic 3-0 Seaford Rock United
FAI Junior Cup, Second Round
Seaford were eliminated from the FAI Junior Cup after conceding two quick second half goals following a red card.
It was the second time this month Seaford had left Rush without so much as a goal, having been soundly beaten in the league clash a few weeks earlier. Both games turned on small margins, but in each case Rush were unquestionably the stronger side on the day.
Not for the first time this season, John Downes was forced into wholesale changes to the Seaford line-up, with three full debuts handed out, and Steve Kane re-deployed as one of three central defenders, where he delivered an excellent display.
The home side were centimetres from opening the scoring inside five minutes when Barry McAllister spun on the ball 20 yards from goal but saw his curling effort clip the far post, but Seaford responded instantly with a brilliant move down the left as Darragh Connolly, Paul Tansey and Kosei Masaki linked up well. Connolly's initial effort was blocked but the rebound fell kindly, but he blasted it over the bar with just keeper Kirwan to beat.
Rush hit the post again on 11 minutes, when from McAllister's right wing cross, Kane almost put the ball into his own net has he tried to see it out for a corner, but was winger Brian Gillen, the scorer of a brilliant solo goal in the earlier match, who was running the show for the home side, tearing through the white defence several times during this period of the game.
Seaford's luck held out again when Ryan Beggs nodded a Dylan Kelly free kick back across goal, only for McAllister to blaze the ball over the top with the goal at his mercy. And in the dying moments of the half, Beggs won another aerial ball from a set play, this time powering a header directly at goal, only for Neil Harrington to head it off the line and preserve the stalemate.
Rush continued to dominate into the second half, and the pressure told on 57 minutes when McAllister found himself bearing in on goal, only to be tripped at the edge of the area by Alan Brennan, who was walking towards the dressing rooms before the referee had even produced the red card. Striker Kelly took the resultant free kick, and arced it perfectly into the top corner of the goal, but Luke Ginnell produced one of the saves of this or any other season to somehow claw it away as the red-and-blacks prepared to celebrate.
But Seaford couldn't hold out for long with ten men, and on 67 minutes Gillen found McAllister with a diagonal ball through the heart of the defence. McAllister met the ball inches before the onrushing Ginnell, nicking the ball into the net as Seaford appealed for offisde.
The visitors rallied briefly, and went close to an equaliser within two minutes as Harrington's looping cross dropped onto the crossbar, the rebound falling to Connolly, whose driven shot beat Kirwan but was hacked off the line by Rory Byrne.
And moments later it was Byrne who made the crucial intervention at the other end of the pitch to seal Rush's spot in the next round, heading in Jonathan Hanratty's corner to make it 2-0.
Overall, it was an encouraging Seaford performance with such a depleted squad, but thoughts no turn to the Leinster Junior Cup clash with Beggsboro in a week's time.
Seaford: Luke Ginnell; Ian Nolan, Alan Brennan, Steve Kane, Denis Donnelly (Gavin Walsh, 59), Paul Tansey (Conan Murphy, 82), Neil Harrington, Richard Barrett, Andy Roe, Kosei Masaki (Garrett Connolly, 59), Darragh Connolly (Stephen Murphy, 82)
Rush Athletic: Stephen Kirwan, Bryce Ndjatang, Ryan Beggs, Rory Byrne, Aaron Kelly, Joe Kelly (Conall McNamara, 47), Brian Gillen, Barry Martin (Mark Doyle, 61) , Dylan Kelly (Alex Neary, 86),, Barry McAllister (Daniel Bentley, 81), Jonathan Hanratty (Liam Doyle, 72). Goals: McAllister (65) Byrne (71)
St Catherine's Park, 30 September 2017
It was the second time this month Seaford had left Rush without so much as a goal, having been soundly beaten in the league clash a few weeks earlier. Both games turned on small margins, but in each case Rush were unquestionably the stronger side on the day.
Not for the first time this season, John Downes was forced into wholesale changes to the Seaford line-up, with three full debuts handed out, and Steve Kane re-deployed as one of three central defenders, where he delivered an excellent display.
The home side were centimetres from opening the scoring inside five minutes when Barry McAllister spun on the ball 20 yards from goal but saw his curling effort clip the far post, but Seaford responded instantly with a brilliant move down the left as Darragh Connolly, Paul Tansey and Kosei Masaki linked up well. Connolly's initial effort was blocked but the rebound fell kindly, but he blasted it over the bar with just keeper Kirwan to beat.
Rush hit the post again on 11 minutes, when from McAllister's right wing cross, Kane almost put the ball into his own net has he tried to see it out for a corner, but was winger Brian Gillen, the scorer of a brilliant solo goal in the earlier match, who was running the show for the home side, tearing through the white defence several times during this period of the game.
Seaford's luck held out again when Ryan Beggs nodded a Dylan Kelly free kick back across goal, only for McAllister to blaze the ball over the top with the goal at his mercy. And in the dying moments of the half, Beggs won another aerial ball from a set play, this time powering a header directly at goal, only for Neil Harrington to head it off the line and preserve the stalemate.
Rush continued to dominate into the second half, and the pressure told on 57 minutes when McAllister found himself bearing in on goal, only to be tripped at the edge of the area by Alan Brennan, who was walking towards the dressing rooms before the referee had even produced the red card. Striker Kelly took the resultant free kick, and arced it perfectly into the top corner of the goal, but Luke Ginnell produced one of the saves of this or any other season to somehow claw it away as the red-and-blacks prepared to celebrate.
But Seaford couldn't hold out for long with ten men, and on 67 minutes Gillen found McAllister with a diagonal ball through the heart of the defence. McAllister met the ball inches before the onrushing Ginnell, nicking the ball into the net as Seaford appealed for offisde.
The visitors rallied briefly, and went close to an equaliser within two minutes as Harrington's looping cross dropped onto the crossbar, the rebound falling to Connolly, whose driven shot beat Kirwan but was hacked off the line by Rory Byrne.
And moments later it was Byrne who made the crucial intervention at the other end of the pitch to seal Rush's spot in the next round, heading in Jonathan Hanratty's corner to make it 2-0.
Overall, it was an encouraging Seaford performance with such a depleted squad, but thoughts no turn to the Leinster Junior Cup clash with Beggsboro in a week's time.
Seaford: Luke Ginnell; Ian Nolan, Alan Brennan, Steve Kane, Denis Donnelly (Gavin Walsh, 59), Paul Tansey (Conan Murphy, 82), Neil Harrington, Richard Barrett, Andy Roe, Kosei Masaki (Garrett Connolly, 59), Darragh Connolly (Stephen Murphy, 82)
Rush Athletic: Stephen Kirwan, Bryce Ndjatang, Ryan Beggs, Rory Byrne, Aaron Kelly, Joe Kelly (Conall McNamara, 47), Brian Gillen, Barry Martin (Mark Doyle, 61) , Dylan Kelly (Alex Neary, 86),, Barry McAllister (Daniel Bentley, 81), Jonathan Hanratty (Liam Doyle, 72). Goals: McAllister (65) Byrne (71)
St Catherine's Park, 30 September 2017