- Andrew Dempsey
- Fri, May 31 2024
Andrew Dempsey reports from the Carlisle Grounds
UCD boss Willie O’Connor admitted he was disappointed his side only picked up a point at home to Bray Wanderers on Friday night.
The Students closed the gap on league leaders Cork City to nine points following the Leesiders shock loss away to Athlone Town.
But they will feel as if they left two points behind them at home to the managerless Seagulls.
It was a game of very few clear-cut chances with neither side especially threatening the opposition rearguard sufficiently.
And O’Connor said: “I’m disappointed to draw it. If anyone was going to win it, I thought it was going to be us. We dominated the ball and didn’t give up many chances but we were just missing that bit of quality or cutting edge in the final third.
“Other than that, we are happy with the performance but we just needed that bit of quality to get the goal and give us a lead.”
The Students made just one change from last weekend’s draw against Athlone Town, while the Seagulls opted to make three swaps from their victory over Wexford.
Keeper Stephen McGuinness and defender Kilian Cantwell returned from injuries for the visitors, while Kieran Cruise was also drafted into the fold. Shane Griffin missed out for the Wanderers.
And it took the two teams 19 minutes to have the first meaningful effort on goal of the game as Hugh Parker saw his shot easily saved by McGuiness after some good play from Sean Brennan in the middle of the park.
Cristian Magerusan then had an effort on goal of his own soon after but his effort dribbled kindly into the grasp Students netminder Kian Moore just three minutes later.
The hosts however enjoyed most of the play before the break and saw efforts from Mikey McCullagh and Parker threaten but fail to ripple the back of the net in Belfield.
The second-half carried on in the same vein, but both teams will feel as if they could have broken the deadlock with just over 20 minutes of normal time to play.
Ciaran Behan unlocked the Seagulls defence down the right before finding Jake Doyle in the penalty area, but the UCD striker was denied by a last-ditch tackle from Cantwell.
And from the resulting counter attack, Bray surged forward and forced a corner-kick that was taken by full-back Max Murphy.
The former Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers defender found his namesake Paul at the back post but he could only fire over the bar.
Substitute Doyle then threatened again for the hosts just over 10 minutes from time but he could only loop his header over the bar from an Alex Dunne cross.
The Students also had a penalty waved away by referee Alan Franklin late on, although Bray finished the game with the momentum.
Although, the execution of their final pass was lacking and the best they could fashion was a long-range effort from Freddie Turley that was easily saved by Moore.
Bray have now moved into fifth spot, while the Students will be keen to close the gap on leaders Cork City on Monday night when they meet at Turner’s Cross.
O’Connor added: “That’s the plan on Monday. Anytime they have dropped points, we have missed the opportunity to put our stamp on things.
“If we can do that on Monday hopefully we can bring them closer into the pack and make it a bit better heading into the end of the season."
UCD:Kian Moore; Ciaran Behan, Éanna Clancy, Niall Holohan, Adam Wells; Seán Brennan, Ronan Finn (Adam Verdon 81), Donal Higgins (Alex Dunne 74), Mikey McCullagh (Stephen Mohan 81); Hugh Parker (Danú Kinsella-Bishop 74), Michael Raggett (Jake Doyle 61).
Subs not used:Dara Kavanagh, Harvey O'Brien, Adam Brennan, Colin Bolton.
Booked:Donal Higgins (73).
Bray Wanderers:Stephen McGuinness; Killian Cantwell, Kieran Cruise (Callum Thompson 65), Paul Murphy, Max Murphy, Zach Nolan; Guillermo Almirall Peñalver (Conor Knight 76), Darren Craven, Harry Groome, Freddie Turley; Cristian Magerusan.
Subs not used:Ben Clark, Jamie Duggan, Alain Kizenga, Thomas Morgan, Zayd Abada, Josh McGlone.
Booked:Darren Craven (57).
Referee:Alan Franklin.
Attendance:427.
extratime.com Player of the Match: Sean Brennan (UCD).
