League Report: UCD 3 - 2 Shelbourne

UCD kept their promotion push on course following a thrilling 3-2 win over Shelbourne at the Belfield Bowl on Friday night.

The hosts started brightly and had early attempts from Kieran Marty Waters and Tomas Boyle blocked by the Shels defence. UCD were finding space in midfield and a clever passing move set Kieran Marty Waters in on the left of the Shels penalty area, his resulting cross led to a frenetic scramble in the 6-yard box before the ball was eventually cleared.

At the other end Shelbourne fashioned their first attempt on goal via Jamie Doyle, however UCD were to make their early dominance count. A Gary O’Neill shot from the edge of the box was only parried by Brady in the Shels goal and Georgie Kelly just managed to beat the Shels defence to the rebound and scrambled the ball over the line.

Despite this setback Shels were growing into the game. Jamie Doyle had an effort deflected to Niall Corbet in the UCD goal as the away team grew in momentum.

The Students were finding space more difficult to come by and were coming under increasing pressure. This pressure eventually told as Daire Doyle’s pressure allowed Dylan Kavanagh to get in down the right. His cross found Adam Evans whose deflected shot found the back of the net.

The visitors were buoyant now and had a couple of handball shouts rejected by the referee. Their mood wasn’t improved when Jamie Doyle was denied a penalty and instead received what looked like a harsh yellow card for simulation.

At the other end Kieran Marty Waters brought an excellent finger tip save out of Brady following a smart one two with Georgie Kelly after 39 minutes. The pace was now frenetic and both sides were creating chances and forcing errors in equal measure. College had the best chance before the break in the shape of Jason McClleland shot but his effort was just over.

The second half started very much where the first had left off. UCD immediately regained the lead as a looping corner kick from the right landed at the feet of Scales whose shot had just enough purchase to put the students back in front.

The visitors weren’t behind for long. Good work on the left by Jamie Doyle saw his cross land in the six yard box. From here Adam Evans did well to create just enough space and unleashed an unstoppable shot past Niall Corbett in the UCD goal to draw his side level.

From this point on the game was played end to end. As the Students searched for a badly needed winner to keep their playoff hopes in their own hands.

However Shels were playing a full part in this game and had excellent chances from Jack Tuite from a corner, while Jamie Doyle skipped in behind but was just beaten to the ball by Corbett. Doyle had two more thunderous shots but in Corbett, he again found his match.

At the other end the ball miraculously stayed out when Cathal Brady’s cross found Greg Sloggett. The midfielder couldn’t sort his feet out to execute the finish, instead deflecting back to the feet of Brady who deflected the ball into the arms of his grateful namesake in the Shels goal.

Mark Langtry made way for Ryan Swan as UCD continued to search for a winner and this duly came in the most dramatic of fashion. Two minutes into injury time a Gary O’Neill floated cross was flicked on to the feet of Maxi Kouogun. His shot wasn’t enough to reach the goal but fell to the feet of the grateful Ryan Swan who slotted home and brought an end to an absorbing contest.

UCD: Niall Corbet; Mark Langtry (Ryan Swan 73), Liam Scales, Maxi Kouogun, Tomas Boyle; Greg Sloggett, Cathal Brady, Gary O'Neill, Kieran, Marty Waters; Georgie Kelly (Jason Byrne 87), Daire O'Connor (Jason McClelland 38)

Subs not used: Conor O’Donnell, Josh Collins, Simon Power, Jack Watson.

Booked: None

Sent Off: None

Shelbourne: Jack Brady; Lorcan Shannon, Jack Tuite, Reece McEnteer, Michael Kelly; Daire Doyle, Gavin Boyne, Dylan Kavanagh, Carl Walshe (James English 75); Adam Evans, Jamie Doyle.

Subs not used: Greg Murray, Cian Kavanagh, Conor Keely, Dylan Grimes, Ryan Robinson, Robert Duggan.

Booked: Jamie Doyle

Sent Off: None

Attendance:  500 (Estimate)

ExtraTime.ie Man of the Match: Jamie Doyle (Shelbourne)