League Preview: UCD -v- Sligo Rovers
Andy Myler Credit: Gerry Shanahan (ETPhotos)
UCD
UCD have five games left in which to preserve their Premier Division status, three of those are at home with the first of those three being the visit of Sligo Rovers on Friday night.
The battle for survival could not be more finely balanced as both they and Finn Harps are locked on 19 points with each side having played the same number of games.
The position of every club in the league in fact is very clear at this stage, as all catch up games have now been played and every team in the league has played 31 games.
The college team currently occupy bottom place in the table by virtue of their inferior goal difference, they are on – 38 goals while Harps are on – 30 goals.
To further emphasise how little separates these two sides one only has to look at their recent performances where each team has won only one game of the last five played.
Andy Myler’s side had a very good 3-2 win at home to Dundalk earlier in September, a late Thomas Lonergan goal proving decisive, but since then they were dumped out of the Extra.ie FAI cup by Treaty United and suffered 1-0 away defeats to both Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians.
SLIGO ROVERS
Sligo Rovers travel to Belfield on Friday night knowing they will probably finish their season in a mid-table position, well clear of the relegation zone but also with a top four position now out of reach.
They currently sit on 41 points in a four-team mid table grouping alongside Bohemians, Shelbourne and Drogheda and come into this game on the back of two losses, albeit against the top two sides in the league this season.
They lost 1-0 away to second placed Derry City and followed up with a 3-1 home loss to leaders Shamrock Rovers last weekend.
They were decisively beaten by the Hoops in the Showgrounds last Saturday night, being 3-0 down after 70 mins and only getting a consolation goal through New Zealand centre back Nando Pijnaker in the 75th minute.
John Russell’s side will be without goalkeeper Luke McNicholas for the rest of the season, the Mayo man sustaining an ankle injury while with the Republic of Ireland under 21 squad ahead of their Euro 2023 play-off game against Israel.
Referee: Oliver Moran
MATCH STATS
This is the fourth and final match between these two sides this season and Sligo Rovers have yet to beat UCD this season, a good omen perhaps for the Students’ heading into Friday night’s match.
There have been two draws between the two teams, one in either venue, while UCD had a very good 2-0 win away in the most recent fixture in the Showgrounds in July, winning 2-0. Donal Higgins and Dara Keane scored a goal in each half in that match.
That game however was sandwiched in between two of Rovers’ Europa Conference League games, three days after beating Bala Town in Wales (4-3 on penalties) and three days before travelling to Scotland and recording a famous 1-0 away win at Motherwell.
PREDICTION
UCD 1-2 Sligo Rovers
UCD
Injured: Colm Whelan
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Michael Gallagher
Sligo Rovers
Injured: Luke McNicholas
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
