Friendly Report: UCD 0 - 3 Derry City

A Rory Patterson brace and a goal from Nathan Boyle helped Derry to a 3-0 victory over UCD in a friendly on a windy Monday afternoon at the AUL Sports Complex.

The Candystripes held the majority of the possession throughout the game, defending stoutly and not giving the Students a good look at goal.

The first real chance came just after ten minutes when Boyle wiggled his way into the box before being denied by a good block from Liam Scales.

Collie O’Neill's side were on the backfoot from early on, with goalkeeper Conor O’Donnell making good saves from Josh Daniels and Aaron McEneff within the first twenty minutes before the Premier Division side eventually took the lead.

McEneff received the ball on the left flank and worked his way into the box before having his shot blocked from close range by the keeper, and Boyle was on hand to tap in from five yards.

U.C.D struggled to create chances and were limited to shooting from range, the closest effort coming from Jason McClelland whose shot hit the side netting from 20 yards.

McEneff was lively for the visitors in the opening half hour, fashioning chances for himself as well as his teammates, and the midfielder nearly assisted his side's second when he played a through ball into Rory Holden who went in one-on-one but was denied by O’Donnell.

The game did have its scrappy sections, however, especially during the first half. The strong winds certainly didn’t help as the ball flew around the pitch from the breeze with both sides finding it hard to hold onto possession at points.

The breeze calmed down for the first 20 minutes of the second half and play became more fluid with teams capable of now being able to hold the ball and pass easier.

Derry managed to pick apart UCD's defence early in the second half when, after good play between Patterson and second half substitutes Lukas Schubert and Barry McNamee, McNamee found himself in on goal before producing a good low save from substitute keeper Karl Skinner.

Derry’s top scorer last season, Patterson, continued to threaten during the second half and managed to double the lead around the hour mark when the ball fell to the striker on the right-hand side of the area before proceeding to finish superbly into the far-left corner after UCD had failed to clear their lines from a corner.

The game began to peter out after the second goal, with McNamee and Holden having half chances before Patterson eventually grabbed his second.

He picked up on a poor defensive clearance in the 90^th minute and ran through to slot coolly under the oncoming keeper to secure a routine victory for Kenny Shiels’ men.

U.C.D: Conor O’Donnell (Karl Skinner 46); Daniel Tobin, Sean Coyne (Evan Osam 60), Maxi Kougoun, Liam Scales; Gary O’Neill, Daire O’Connor (Greg Sloggett 60), Cian Kavanagh, Jason McClelland, Gareth Coughlan; Georgie Kelly (Aaron Robinson 46).

Subs not used: None.

Derry City: Ger Doherty; Kodi Foster (Sam Todd 52), Ryan McBride, Scott Whiteside, Aaron McEneff; Nicky Low (Lukas Schubert 52), Ben Doherty (Barry McNamee 52), Josh Daniels (Dean Jarvis 52), Rory Holden; Nathan Boyle (Ronan Curtis 46), Rory Patterson.

Subs Not used: Eric Grimes (gk), Cahill Farren.

Referee:

Attendance: 15 (Estimate).

Extratime.ie Man of The Match: Rory Patterson (Derry City).