UCD 0 - 1 Sporting Fingal

• Bar OSullivan
• Fri, May 29 2009


Conan Byrne was on target at Belfield on Thursday night to give Sporting Fingal a one nil win over promotion rivals UCD. The former UCD favourite pounced midway through the second half, intercepting a wayward back pass and finishing neatly from just inside the box. The result moves Fingal to within two points of UCD and is only the Students second defeat this season.

Martin Russell made two changes to the side that drew with Limerick last week. Billy Brennan replaced the injured Ger Barron between the posts and Gareth Matthews came in at full back for the injured Ciaran Nangle. Lorcan Fitzgerald and Robert Bayly were the only changes to the Fingal side that were defeated last week by Waterford.

Ciaran Kilduff had an appeal for a penalty midway through the first half when he rounded Darren Quigley, but referee Graham Kelly wasn't interested. Kilduff was in the thick of things again a few moments later. Striding forward from midfield he advanced towards the penalty area only to be stopped in his tracks when Shane McFaul handled the ball on the ground. Seeing as he prevented Kilduff from getting a shot at goal, McFaul could have easily seen red instead of yellow.

UCD enjoyed the better of possession in the first half, but seven minutes before the break Fingal created the best chance of the half. Eamonn Zayed received the ball with his back to goal and slipped the ball in behind the UCD defence, into the path of Byrne. Byrne took a touch to steady himself, and only a fine save from Billy Brennan kept the game scoreless.

Andrew Boyle came close to opening the scoring on the hour mark, but Brian Gannon was in the right place at the right time and managed to clear the centre backs effort of the line. Ten minutes later, from another corner, Evan McMillan's header crashed off the crossbar as UCD were beginning to dominate proceedings.

Against the run of play Sporting went one up after seventy three minutes. Under little pressure, UCD substitute Peter McMahon opted to play the ball back towards his keeper. Byrne stole in to score against his former employers and from that point on Fingal never looked like letting their lead slip.

UCD - Brennan, Mathews, Boyle, E.McMillan, Shortall, Reilly (Ward 75), Finn, Creevy, Mulhall (McMahon 46), D.McMillan (Purcell 46), Kilduff.

Sporting Fingal - Quigley, Gannon, Frost, McFaul (Whelan 65), Fitzgerald, Bayly, Kirby, Williams, Byrne, Gaynor, Zayed.