Match Report: Sacred Heart 3-2 Seaford Rock United
LSL Saturday Major 1
Two goals immediately either side of half time gave Seaford an insurmountable challenge away against league-leaders Sacred Heart, and they left Killinarden empty-handed despite a spirited second-half performance.
The Penguins made a bright start, with winger Ryan Scollard zooming past his man a couple of times in the early stages, and Lewis Cawley going close to opening the scoring on 4 minutes from his cross. But the Mayo man didn't have to wait long to break the deadlock, as he cracked a 20 yard shot low into the corner of the net, from Mike O'Neill's composed lay-off.
The hosts rallied, with Daniel O'Farrell pouncing on a loose pass and bursting in on goal, but fired too high, and they leveled on the half-hour mark, following a game of head-tennis in the Seaford box, with Stephen O'Neill nodding home at the back post, although the men in navy complained that Ger Hamilton had touched the ball in an offside position before it crossed the line.
O'Neill went close to restoring Seaford's lead in spectacular fashion but his bicycle kick was straight at Dixon, and then in the final action of the first half , it was the reds who hit the front through Hamilton, once again punishing a poor Seaford pass with a clinical burst forward and a superb finish past Oisin Geoghegan.
It got worse for the Penguins immediately after half time as Sacred Heart made it 3-1 in farcical circumstances. Seaford appealed for at least three separate offsides in the same phase of play before O'Neill eventually forced the ball home amidst a goalmouth scramble.
With a two-goal advantage, the hosts were content to let Seaford make the running from that point, and most of the game was played in the Sacred Heart half. Cawley was inches from curling home his second of the day, but was just too high with DIxon beaten , and MJ Tierney almost made an immediate impact off the bench, picking out Dan Kennedy with a pinpoint cross, but the striker's brilliant header clipped the post
Seaford continued to apply pressure, and halved the deficit in similarly bizarre fashion to that with which the hosts had secured it. Scollard's low cross didn't seem to pose much danger, but luckless fullback Peter Davis, in attempting to to put it behind for a corner, crashed the ball off one post, and then the other, before it trickled over the line for 3-2.
There was a late onslaught from the visitors, pouring forward in search of a dramatic equaliser, but the closest they came was after six minutes of injury time, when Eoin Mahon did well to burst down the right and cross to the near post for fellow sub Richie Mulholland, who managed to direct his volley on target, only for Dixon to claim the ball and secure the win for his team.
Seaford: Oisin Geoghegan, Fionn Geoghegan (Eoin Mahon, 72), Paul Tansey (Brian Murphy, 72), Cian McGuinness, Al Kennedy, Conor Geoghegan (Richie Mulholland, 80), Sam Browne, Mike O'Neill (David Higgins, 70), Ryan Scollard, 59), Lewis Cawley (MJ Tierney, 61), Dan Kennedy
Sacred Heart: Darragh Dixon, Peter Davis, Martin Doneghan, Adam Towers, Craig Rothery, Jamie Hayes (Ultan Kennedy, 81), David O'Keefe, Daniel O'Farrell, Ger Hamilton (Max Goodwin, 70), Ray Singleton (Luka Arevadze, 88), Stephen O'Neill
Killinarden Heights, 21 January 2022
The Penguins made a bright start, with winger Ryan Scollard zooming past his man a couple of times in the early stages, and Lewis Cawley going close to opening the scoring on 4 minutes from his cross. But the Mayo man didn't have to wait long to break the deadlock, as he cracked a 20 yard shot low into the corner of the net, from Mike O'Neill's composed lay-off.
The hosts rallied, with Daniel O'Farrell pouncing on a loose pass and bursting in on goal, but fired too high, and they leveled on the half-hour mark, following a game of head-tennis in the Seaford box, with Stephen O'Neill nodding home at the back post, although the men in navy complained that Ger Hamilton had touched the ball in an offside position before it crossed the line.
O'Neill went close to restoring Seaford's lead in spectacular fashion but his bicycle kick was straight at Dixon, and then in the final action of the first half , it was the reds who hit the front through Hamilton, once again punishing a poor Seaford pass with a clinical burst forward and a superb finish past Oisin Geoghegan.
It got worse for the Penguins immediately after half time as Sacred Heart made it 3-1 in farcical circumstances. Seaford appealed for at least three separate offsides in the same phase of play before O'Neill eventually forced the ball home amidst a goalmouth scramble.
With a two-goal advantage, the hosts were content to let Seaford make the running from that point, and most of the game was played in the Sacred Heart half. Cawley was inches from curling home his second of the day, but was just too high with DIxon beaten , and MJ Tierney almost made an immediate impact off the bench, picking out Dan Kennedy with a pinpoint cross, but the striker's brilliant header clipped the post
Seaford continued to apply pressure, and halved the deficit in similarly bizarre fashion to that with which the hosts had secured it. Scollard's low cross didn't seem to pose much danger, but luckless fullback Peter Davis, in attempting to to put it behind for a corner, crashed the ball off one post, and then the other, before it trickled over the line for 3-2.
There was a late onslaught from the visitors, pouring forward in search of a dramatic equaliser, but the closest they came was after six minutes of injury time, when Eoin Mahon did well to burst down the right and cross to the near post for fellow sub Richie Mulholland, who managed to direct his volley on target, only for Dixon to claim the ball and secure the win for his team.
Seaford: Oisin Geoghegan, Fionn Geoghegan (Eoin Mahon, 72), Paul Tansey (Brian Murphy, 72), Cian McGuinness, Al Kennedy, Conor Geoghegan (Richie Mulholland, 80), Sam Browne, Mike O'Neill (David Higgins, 70), Ryan Scollard, 59), Lewis Cawley (MJ Tierney, 61), Dan Kennedy
Sacred Heart: Darragh Dixon, Peter Davis, Martin Doneghan, Adam Towers, Craig Rothery, Jamie Hayes (Ultan Kennedy, 81), David O'Keefe, Daniel O'Farrell, Ger Hamilton (Max Goodwin, 70), Ray Singleton (Luka Arevadze, 88), Stephen O'Neill
Killinarden Heights, 21 January 2022