Match Report: St Patrick's CY 1-2 Seaford Rock United
Lanigan Cup
Seaford made it two cup wins in a matter of days after taking the scalp of top-flight outfit St Patrick’s CY in a re-arranged Lanigan Cup fixture around Irishtown Stadium.
It was a scintillating first half performance from the Penguins who were dominant in the opening 45 and might have taken the lead sooner than they did.
In-form striker Stephen Canavan almost benefited from confusion in the Pats defense following Stephen Kelly’s long ball forward, as defender Ian Nolan and keeper Oliver Oleksiewicz collided, but Canavan was unable to get set for his finish and dragged his effort wide.
Then, Canavan and Al Kennedy combined brilliantly with a one-two, but David Higgins was unable to hit the target from 15 yards.
But Higgins made no mistake shortly, firing home from a tight angle after being picked out by Chris Monk's clever cross to the near post,
The closest the hosts came top a clear-cut chance fell to pacey forward Joey Hall who sped through and nicked the ball past debutant keeper Barry Ensor, but Seaford defenders were on hand to sweep up.
Early in the second half, Higgins felt he was impeded just as he was about to finish from close range after collecting Fionn Lawlor's throw-in, but instead Seaford were hit with a sucker-punch when Darragh Stirrat met Lee Geoghan's corner with a bullet header from eight yards to level the scores.
The visitors continued to press for a winner but it was the introduction of MJ Tierney off the substitute's bench that made the crucial impact. With his first touch, he whipped a stunning cross onto Monk's toe six yards from goal, but somehow the ball was deflected over the bar. Next, Tierney cut inside on his right, forcing a fine save from Oleksiewicz from 20 yards, and from the resulting corner Tierney whipped in another trademark cross for Robbie Creevy to nod home what turned out to be the winner.
Pats produced the kitchen sink in the final minutes as they tried to avoid elimination but Ensor's goal was never threatened, with Kelly and Cian McGuinness snuffing out every attempted attack., and Seaford deservedly booked their place in round 2.
Seaford: Barry Ensor, Mike O'Neill , Fionn Lawlor , Stephen Kelly, Cian McGuinness, Sam Browne (Jamie Morrison, 86), David Higgins (Robbie Creevy, 71), Al Kennedy, Garrett Connolly (MJ Tierney, 75), Chris Monk, Stephen Canavan (Harry Crowe, 87)
St Patrick's CY: Oliver Oleksiewicz, Sean O'Connor (Peter Wall, 75), Mark Hall (Zorro Chimimsa, 89), Sean Heary, Ian Nolan, Graham Hannigan, Darragh Stirrat (Adam Gregg, 61), Martin Hutchison (Gabrial Katchi, 81), Lee Geoghan, Joey Hall, David Lewis (John Nolan, 61)
Irishtown Stadium, 30 October 2019
It was a scintillating first half performance from the Penguins who were dominant in the opening 45 and might have taken the lead sooner than they did.
In-form striker Stephen Canavan almost benefited from confusion in the Pats defense following Stephen Kelly’s long ball forward, as defender Ian Nolan and keeper Oliver Oleksiewicz collided, but Canavan was unable to get set for his finish and dragged his effort wide.
Then, Canavan and Al Kennedy combined brilliantly with a one-two, but David Higgins was unable to hit the target from 15 yards.
But Higgins made no mistake shortly, firing home from a tight angle after being picked out by Chris Monk's clever cross to the near post,
The closest the hosts came top a clear-cut chance fell to pacey forward Joey Hall who sped through and nicked the ball past debutant keeper Barry Ensor, but Seaford defenders were on hand to sweep up.
Early in the second half, Higgins felt he was impeded just as he was about to finish from close range after collecting Fionn Lawlor's throw-in, but instead Seaford were hit with a sucker-punch when Darragh Stirrat met Lee Geoghan's corner with a bullet header from eight yards to level the scores.
The visitors continued to press for a winner but it was the introduction of MJ Tierney off the substitute's bench that made the crucial impact. With his first touch, he whipped a stunning cross onto Monk's toe six yards from goal, but somehow the ball was deflected over the bar. Next, Tierney cut inside on his right, forcing a fine save from Oleksiewicz from 20 yards, and from the resulting corner Tierney whipped in another trademark cross for Robbie Creevy to nod home what turned out to be the winner.
Pats produced the kitchen sink in the final minutes as they tried to avoid elimination but Ensor's goal was never threatened, with Kelly and Cian McGuinness snuffing out every attempted attack., and Seaford deservedly booked their place in round 2.
Seaford: Barry Ensor, Mike O'Neill , Fionn Lawlor , Stephen Kelly, Cian McGuinness, Sam Browne (Jamie Morrison, 86), David Higgins (Robbie Creevy, 71), Al Kennedy, Garrett Connolly (MJ Tierney, 75), Chris Monk, Stephen Canavan (Harry Crowe, 87)
St Patrick's CY: Oliver Oleksiewicz, Sean O'Connor (Peter Wall, 75), Mark Hall (Zorro Chimimsa, 89), Sean Heary, Ian Nolan, Graham Hannigan, Darragh Stirrat (Adam Gregg, 61), Martin Hutchison (Gabrial Katchi, 81), Lee Geoghan, Joey Hall, David Lewis (John Nolan, 61)
Irishtown Stadium, 30 October 2019