League Report: Derry City 3 - 0 UCD
Michael Duffy was on the scoresheet as Derry defeated UCD Credit: John-Paul McGinley (ETPhotos)
Derry City recorded a comfortable three goal victory over UCD at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium on a night which saw them strengthen their grip on second place in the table following Dundalk’s draw with Shelbourne.
Having beaten the Tolka Park outfit earlier in the week, Ruaidhri Higgins’ men made a couple of changes to the starting lineup- Mark Connolly was back to man the centre of the defence after missing the Shelbourne encounter through suspension while Michael Duffy lined up on the wing. Ciaran Coll and Joe Thompson the men to miss out.
During the week, UCD lost another player to Italian league football- hot on the heels of Liam Kerrigan’s summer switch to Como, John Ryan departed for Serie A outfit Sassuolo. Ahead of a return to a venue where they conceded seven times on their last visit, Andy Myler made three switches to his starting side- Alex Nolan, Mark Dignam and Daniel Norris were all named at the expense of Evan Osam, Donal Higgins and Tommy Lonergan respectively.
Any hopes The Students had of taking something from the game were dealt an early blow with Ryan Graydon opening the scoring on five minutes- the former Bohemians player finding the net from close range with his second goal in a week after Cameron McJannet’s fine work down the wing.
However, the hosts failed to capitalise on their early start and were indebted to their Republic of Ireland underage international goalkeeper Brian Maher who made a couple of smart stops to preserve their lead as The Students grew into the game- Sean Brennan playing a prominent role for the visitors during the half.
The second half saw the Candystripes up the tempo and with twenty minutes to go, they doubled their lead- summer arrival Sadou Diallo taking a pass from Michael Duffy to lash the ball beyond Kian Moore and seal the points for City.
Duffy himself put the gloss on the scoreline as his former Dundalk teammate Patrick McEleney teed up the winger for his first goal in almost eight years for his hometown club as they put space between themselves and the Lilywhites in the battle for second place.
Derry City:Brian Maher; Mark Connolly, Cameron Dummigan, Shane McEleney, Cameron McJannet (Ciaran Coll 65); Sadou Diallo, Michael Duffy, Ryan Graydon (Jordan McEneff 85), Brandon Kavanagh (Ronan Boyce 60), Patrick McEleney; James Akintunde (Jamie McGonigle 60).
Subs not used: Jack Lemoignan, Daniel Lafferty, Caoimhin Porter, Joe Thomson, Cian Kavanagh.
Booked: None.
Sent off: None.
UCD:Kian Moore; Alex Dunne (Aaron Corish 83), Michael Gallagher, Evan Osam, Sam Todd; Sean Brennan (Matthew Scott 83), Evan Caffrey, Mark Dignam (Thomas Lonergan 56), Dylan Duffy, Dara Keane; Alex Nolan.
Subs not used: Lorcan Healy, Jamie Duggan, Bradley Rogers, Daniel Norris, Jack Keaney.
Booked: Michael Gallagher (62) Sean Brennan (76).
Sent off: None.
Referee: Oliver Moran
