UCD -v- Shelbourne

UCD

UCD play their final game of the opening series of Airtricity League matches against Shelbourne at the UCD Bowl on Friday night.

The Students currently sit third from bottom in the table but know that a win, and results elsewhere, could push them up to sixth. UCD have scored their last nine goals in the second half of games and they left it late again last Friday to claim a point against Champions Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght Stadium when Paul O’Conor scored an injury time equaliser. The previous week a Daniel Ledwith second half goal got them a point at home to Drogheda United.

"Either of those games could have gone either way to be honest about it,” said UCD’s manager Martin Russell. “Two draws is not the worst, but we keep pushing for wins. At the moment everyone seems capable of giving each other a game. Looking at ourselves, we have played well in games without getting maximum points, but if we keep the level of performances I believe that the results will go in our favour.

"We have shown that we have some good players establishing themselves at the highest league in the country, and they are already getting a level of attention from further afield."

When 2-0 down at the start of the second half last week, Russell switched his team to three at the back to chase the game. Paul Corry, who is on standby for the Ireland under 21 team’s upcoming qualifiers, was unlucky not to score when his shot clipped the bar two minutes into that second half. Graham Rusk, who has been lethal from the penalty spot this season scored another from 12 yards on the hour mark and the Students were worth their draw when they scored at the death.

UCD will hope that they can build on that second half performance against Shels on Friday. "We look forward to Shelbourne on our home ground,” said Russell. “We look to put our best foot forward, we know that Shels are going to come to win. It has been a competitive league so far, and this game will be fought in a similar vein."

The Students will be looking to serve up another good second half display in front of international tennis player Arina Rodionova who will be at the game and who is currently training in DCU's tennis academy ahead of the World Team Tennis Championships.  Rodionova, who has won over $250,000 in career prize money to date, plays on the Washington Kastles team alongside the Williams sisters. 

SHELBOURNE

You can bet that Shelbourne manager Alan Mathews will be hoping to talk about purely on-field matters this week following last week’s talk of alleged betting irregularities ahead of  the Shelbourne versus Monaghan United game. His Shels team were able to put the pre-match distraction aside to beat Monaghan 2-1 at Tolka Park.

Shelbourne trailed 1-0 in the second half but goals from Paddy Kavanagh and David Cassidy secured all three points on the night. Speaking after that game to ShelsTV.com, Mathews felt the scoreline didn’t reflect the way his team performed on the pitch.

“To play as well as we did tonight is very pleasing,” said Mathews. “We made it hard for ourselves because we had to come back but we were excellent from the start and deserved to win the game. It’s difficult to get a win anywhere. Tonight we played well and made sure we got the three points.”

Shels are in a reasonable fifth position in the table in and will be hoping, after Friday’s game, to leap frog above Drogheda United. In order to do that though, they will have to collect all three points against UCD. 

 “It’s the next challenge.  They’ve had a good start to the season. Going out to Belfield is always difficult. If we play like we did [in the Monaghan match] and show the character that we’ve shown - we’ll be OK.”

Referee: Alan Kelly.

MATCH STATS

These two sides last met when they were both playing in the First Division in 2009. Each team got a win with their last game ending in a 2-2 draw in Tolka Park.

Graham Rusk has scored five penalties in the Airtricity League for UCD this season. Shelbourne striker Philly Hughes has scored five goals this season with one from the penalty spot.

UCD have scored just two goals in the first half of their league games this season with the remaining ten goals (including the last nine) having come in the second half. Shels’ last five goals scored in the league have come in the second half of their games.

BETTING

UCD 11/5; Draw 11/5; Shelbourne 6/5.

PREDICTION

0-0 at half time and 1-1 at full time.

UCD Injury News:  Chris Mulhall, Sean Russell, Ger Barron, Tomas Boyle. 

UCD Suspension News: None.

Shelbourne Injury News: Lorcan Fitzgerald, Stephen Hurley.

Shelbourne Suspension News: None.