League Report: Derry City 0 - 1 UCD
Credit:
A strike from Mark Langtry early on proved to be the difference between the sides in the SSE Airtricty League clash at the Brandywell, as UCD took the three points on offer back to Dublin.
Two minutes into the game the first chance fell to Patrick McEleney after a well worked move down the right hand side of the pitch by Stephen Dooley but the Derry native's shot flew over high the crossbar.
UCD seemed to still be in first gear as Derry City were on top for first 15 minutes, dominating possession in the middle of the park.
The next real chance came after Dooley played an exquisite ball over the top of “the students” back line into the path of Rory Paterson but a miss communication in the box saw the ball trickle out for a goal kick.
UCD tried to get into the game but the Candystripes defended well in the final third. A great chance presented itself on the half hour mark after Dooley whipped a brilliant ball in from the right side into the box but the ball couldn't find a Derry City man and was cleared easily by the UCD defense.
Rory Patterson next played a brilliant through ball to Philip Lowry that left the midfielder with a one-on-one chance with the 'keeper. He did everything right but his effort just went wide of the post.
UCD first real test for Derry goalkeeper Ger Doherty in the 33rd minute generated the only goal of the game and it came against the run of play.
A well worked move teed up Mark Langry on the edge of the box and he hit a rocket into the top right hand corner. Doherty had no chance, it was a great strike and one that Langtry will remember for sometime.
Derry pressed for an equaliser and arguably Shaun Houston had the chance of the half. Just before the break a brilliant header by Houston was heading into the back of the goal but Conor O'Donnell made a great save to keep the visitors in front.
Derry City came out of the blocks the quickest of the two sides in the second half as they looked to find the equaliser. In the early stages, the ball fell to Patterson but the normally reliable striker found his rather tame effort on goal easily saved by O`Donnell.
The home side tried to create further chances to test O`Donnell but the UCD back four was superb in keeping the home side at bay.
Derry City tried to up the tempo and on 72 minutes Houston had the ball in the net which had red and white army celebration only for an offside flag to deflate the celebrations. The oppertunity came from a floated ball that met the head of Houston but the defender had strayed offside and the goal didn’t stand, much to the despair of the Brandywell faithful.
There weren’t any chances for the home side in the closing 15 minutes. They pressed for an eqauliser that didn't come as the UCD defense stayed strong to shut out the Candystripes.
Late on both sides worked the ball well in the middle of the field but didn't create much in the way of chances in the final third. The best of which fell to Colin Crowe one-on-one with the Derry 'keeper but a tame effort saw the chance go begging late on.
The students really should have made it 2-0 in added time after a counter attack down the left played Benson through on goal to face Doherty. However the Derry 'keeper came off his line and took the ball off the feet of Benson as he looked to take the ball round the keeper to try and slot the ball home.
The victory for UCD was thoroughly deserved in the end thanks to that brilliant goal by Langtry. He earned them a well worked victory against a Derry City side that will need to improve its play in the final third in time for the FAI Cup final to come in early November.
Derry City: Gerard Doherty; Mark Timlin, Dean Jarvis, Shaun Kelly, Shane McEleney; Phillip Lowry, Barry Molloy (Shaun Houston 44), Stephen Dooley, Barry McNamee, Patrick McEleney (Michael Duffy 76); Rory Patterson (Ryan Curran 67).
Subs not used: Ciaran Gallagher (gk), Josh Tracey, Nathan Boyle, Danny Ventre.
Bookings: None.
UCD: Conor O`Donnell; Ian Ryan, Gareth Matthews, Mark Langtry (Daniel Tobin 60), Hugh Douglas; Chris Mulhall, Robert Creevy (Colm Crowe 77), Conor Cannon (James Kavanagh 72), Gary Burke, Robert Benson; Timmy Molloy.
Subs not used: Niall Corbet (gk), Tomas Boyle, Sean Coyne, Gregory Sloggett.
Bookings: Conor O`Donnell (53), Gareth Matthews (67).
Referee: Tomás Connolly.
Attendance: 1,000 (estimate).
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Stephen Dooley (Derry City).
