- Patrick O'Connor
- Sat, Aug 20 2022
Patrick O’ Connor reports from the UCD Bowl
UCD plunged back to the bottom of the league table on Friday night when they lost 2-1 at home to St. Patrick’s Athletic before over 1,000 spectators.
After a spirited performance against Finn Harps the previous week, the Students never reached the same heights and can have no complaints about the end result.
Their resources were certainly stretched to the limit as they were forced to take the field without the relatively experienced Jack Heaney (injured) and Dara Keane (suspended), and their lack of strength in depth was exposed against a much more seasoned side like St. Patrick’s Athletic.
Tim Clancy’s team on the other hand looked like an outfit that have benefitted enormously from having played tougher opposition in the Europa Conference League qualifiers and in reality, they should have won the game by a much greater margin than the one goal.
The visitors started and finished very strongly and the possession stats alone, Pats had 61% to 39% for UCD, tell the story of the game.
The first goal arrived in the eighth minute after a series of corners that Pats won on their right hand side.
Ronan Coughlan’s initial shot was deflected for another corner and Thijs Timmerman scrambled the ball home after Joe Redmond had headed the ball across the box from Anto Breslin’s cross.
The Saints went on to dominate the remainder of the half and created numerous chances to extend their lead but were unable to beat Kian Moore for a second time in the opening half.
They did manage to extend their lead early in the second half but it was primarily due to a defensive mix up on the part of UCD rather than as a result of any good build up play of their own.
A back pass meant for Moore fell short and the livewire Serge Atakayi pounced on the mistake to outpace Moore and stroke the ball into an empty net to make it 2-0.
The Students did respond in a very positive manner however when they pulled a goal back in the 60th minute, courtesy of a well struck free by Dylan Duffy which flew straight past keeper Danny Rogers into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
There was to be no rousing finish from Andy Myler’s side though as the Athletic regained control of the match and should really have scored a third goal, with Atakayi again, Jamie Lennon and man of the match Barry Cotter all going close.
The Saints have now closed the gap to third placed Derry City to four points while at the same time widening the gap to fifth placed Sligo Rovers to seven points.
UCD meanwhile are now two points adrift of Finn Harps and will look to take something from the season when they switch to FAI Cup action next weekend, travelling to Eamonn Deacy Park to face Galway Utd.
UCD: Kian Moore; Sam Todd, Evan Osam, Michael Gallagher, Alex Dunne (Danny Norris 79), Dylan Duffy, Mark Dignam (John Ryan 60), Evan Caffrey, Donal Higgins (Alex Nolan 60) Sean Brennan, Thomas Lonergan.
Subs not used: Lorcan Healy (GK), Matthew Scott, Jamie Duggan, Johnny Haist, Tobi Jinnad, Harry O’ Connor.
Booked: None
St Patricks Athletic: Danny Rogers; Barry Cotter, Harry Brockbank, Tom Grivosti, Joe Redmond, Anto Breslin, Serge Atakayi, Chris Forrester (Billy King 85), Jamie Lennon, Thijs Timmerman (Adam O’ Reilly 67), Ronan Coughlan (Eoin Doyle 57)
Subs not used: Darragh Mooney (GK), Jason McLelland, Ben McCormack, Sam Curtis, Paddy Barrett, Tunde Owolabi.
Booked: None
Referee: Oliver Moran
extratime.com Player of the Match: Barry Cotter (St Patrick’s Athletic)
Attendance: 1,023
