Match Report: St Patrick's CY 1-2 Seaford Rock United
LSL Saturday Major 1
Seaford showed their doggedness as well as their quality as they bounced back from a couple of recent setbacks at Irishtown Stadium by beating the side immediately above them in the league table.
In blustery conditions in Dublin 4, the visitors had the better of the play for most of the match, although Pats enjoyed a strong spell in the second half during which they equalised and went close to hitting the front, but a couple of characteristic strikes from MJ Tierney won the day for the Penguins.
Both sides had great opportunities to score in the opening ten minutes, as Pats striker Ciaran O'Toole found Glen
Donnelly in wide open six yards out, but the diminutive playmaker headed straight at Oisin Geoghegan. At the other end Ryan Scollard burst down the right wing and squared for Dan Kennedy, who was unable to keep his shot under the crossbar from eight yards.
Then Tierney laid in Scollard with an exquisite drilled pass, but the winger fired off target when through on goal, and late in the half Geoghegan was at full stretch to tip Donnelly's whipped free kick around the post.
Seaford made a bright start to the second half, with Kennedy's flick on finding Tierney in space down the left wing. His attempted dink from 30 yards left Luis Berenguer grasping at thin air, but dropped inches wide of the post. But it proved to be a useful sighter for the wing wizard, because a few minutes later he collected a fine pass from Al Kennedy, again took aim with the chip, and this time hit the target as the Pats keeper was unable to claw it away.
The hosts rallied, and on 68 minutes two of their substitutes combined as Sean Flood's free kick was nodded home by Jack Tilson, with Geoghegan agonisingly close to making an incredible save, but couldn't quite divert it around the post.
Donnelly was then put straight in on Geoghegan by an undercooked backpass, but the big stopper did enough to make life difficult, before Cian McGuinness came in with a crunching tackle on the six-yard line, to save the day.
Pats were suddenly a more impressive side than they had been previously, and Fabio Santos ought to have given them the lead with 13 to play, executing a slick one-two, but dragging his shot wide when clean through.
Instead, it was Tierney who had the decisive say, with another one of his trademark strikes, direct from a viciously inswinging corner, despite his teammates' efforts to claim a touch on the goalline.
The win moves restore the Penguins to a balanced record for the league campaign, and maintains their hopes of securing a top-half finish with a strong conclusion to the season.
Seaford: Oisin Geoghegan, Darragh Roche, Paul Tansey , Eoin Mahon, Cian McGuinness, Al Kennedy, Conor Geoghegan (Killian Campion, 80), David Higgins, (Mike O'Neill, 60), Ryan Scollard, (Richie Mulholland, 89), MJ Tierney (Gavin Walsh, 88), Dan Kennedy (Chris Monk, 72)
St Patrick's CY: Luis Berenguer, Derek Ridgeway (Sean O'Connor, 50), Leon Montgomery, Daniel Bolton, Lee Harrison, Vincent McQuarrie (Fabio Santos, 66), Niall Foley, Martin Hutchison, Gavin O'Toole (Sean Flood, h/t), Glen Donnelly, Ciaran Dunne (Jake TIlson, 60)
Irishtown Stadium, 29 January 2022
In blustery conditions in Dublin 4, the visitors had the better of the play for most of the match, although Pats enjoyed a strong spell in the second half during which they equalised and went close to hitting the front, but a couple of characteristic strikes from MJ Tierney won the day for the Penguins.
Both sides had great opportunities to score in the opening ten minutes, as Pats striker Ciaran O'Toole found Glen
Donnelly in wide open six yards out, but the diminutive playmaker headed straight at Oisin Geoghegan. At the other end Ryan Scollard burst down the right wing and squared for Dan Kennedy, who was unable to keep his shot under the crossbar from eight yards.
Then Tierney laid in Scollard with an exquisite drilled pass, but the winger fired off target when through on goal, and late in the half Geoghegan was at full stretch to tip Donnelly's whipped free kick around the post.
Seaford made a bright start to the second half, with Kennedy's flick on finding Tierney in space down the left wing. His attempted dink from 30 yards left Luis Berenguer grasping at thin air, but dropped inches wide of the post. But it proved to be a useful sighter for the wing wizard, because a few minutes later he collected a fine pass from Al Kennedy, again took aim with the chip, and this time hit the target as the Pats keeper was unable to claw it away.
The hosts rallied, and on 68 minutes two of their substitutes combined as Sean Flood's free kick was nodded home by Jack Tilson, with Geoghegan agonisingly close to making an incredible save, but couldn't quite divert it around the post.
Donnelly was then put straight in on Geoghegan by an undercooked backpass, but the big stopper did enough to make life difficult, before Cian McGuinness came in with a crunching tackle on the six-yard line, to save the day.
Pats were suddenly a more impressive side than they had been previously, and Fabio Santos ought to have given them the lead with 13 to play, executing a slick one-two, but dragging his shot wide when clean through.
Instead, it was Tierney who had the decisive say, with another one of his trademark strikes, direct from a viciously inswinging corner, despite his teammates' efforts to claim a touch on the goalline.
The win moves restore the Penguins to a balanced record for the league campaign, and maintains their hopes of securing a top-half finish with a strong conclusion to the season.
Seaford: Oisin Geoghegan, Darragh Roche, Paul Tansey , Eoin Mahon, Cian McGuinness, Al Kennedy, Conor Geoghegan (Killian Campion, 80), David Higgins, (Mike O'Neill, 60), Ryan Scollard, (Richie Mulholland, 89), MJ Tierney (Gavin Walsh, 88), Dan Kennedy (Chris Monk, 72)
St Patrick's CY: Luis Berenguer, Derek Ridgeway (Sean O'Connor, 50), Leon Montgomery, Daniel Bolton, Lee Harrison, Vincent McQuarrie (Fabio Santos, 66), Niall Foley, Martin Hutchison, Gavin O'Toole (Sean Flood, h/t), Glen Donnelly, Ciaran Dunne (Jake TIlson, 60)
Irishtown Stadium, 29 January 2022