League of Ireland in Europe 2017

**pineapple stu** · 27/09/2017, 6:14 PM

1-1! Much better.

2-1!!!

**pineapple stu** · 27/09/2017, 6:18 PM

Half time. Two goals in 30 seconds before the break. We've settled nicely since their goal. Decent game of ball now

**ger121** · 27/09/2017, 7:20 PM

Be a hell of a result if it stays like this. Who needs a fancy stadium.

**pineapple stu** · 27/09/2017, 7:22 PM

Result.

That was unexpected. And deserved. They were surprisingly poor. We could do this yet, though the second leg will be tough. Flying in on the morning of the game

**Dalymountrower** · 27/09/2017, 7:24 PM

Excellent result UCD.Ad Astra.

**patrickccfc** · 27/09/2017, 7:51 PM

Fantastic result that. Will be tough over there but anything possible now

**Charlie Darwin** · 27/09/2017, 8:29 PM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Result.

That was unexpected. And deserved. They were surprisingly poor. We could do this yet, though the second leg will be tough. Flying in on the morning of the game

How did it go from "big gulf in class" to "they were surprisingly poor"?

**pineapple stu** · 27/09/2017, 8:32 PM

I don't really know.

I think we were too nervous for the first ten minutes. We believed their ability a bit too much. Once they scored, we settled and started to play. Their shooting in particular was wojus. We played some really nice stuff and grew in confidence as it went on.

**ger121** · 27/09/2017, 9:00 PM

Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

How did it go from "big gulf in class" to "they were surprisingly poor"?

Just the range of emotions you experience in a match depending on the score.

**pineapple stu** · 27/09/2017, 9:08 PM

I think it's also that partly, I expected us to be in trouble early, and we were under pressure early on before they scored. So the conclusion then is that it's going to be a long night. But we came into the game really very well after.

"Surprisingly poor" is also relative. They weren't as good as I'd expected, particularly based on the first ten minutes

**Charlie Darwin** · 27/09/2017, 9:43 PM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

I don't really know.

I think we were too nervous for the first ten minutes. We believed their ability a bit too much. Once they scored, we settled and started to play. Their shooting in particular was wojus. We played some really nice stuff and grew in confidence as it went on.

I saw Maciej in the paper saying he knew they'd play long ball and he was confident once UCD could get the ball down and play. Maybe the Norwegian lads are just a bit bigger than your average U19 league player.

**seand** · 28/09/2017, 10:26 AM

With UCD's and Cork's excellent performances/results in U19 Europe over the past couple of season are we seeing signs that actually the underage setup might be working quite well?

**pineapple stu** · 28/09/2017, 1:19 PM

Probably hard to be sure without a couple more seasons of European results; underage teams can fluctuate a fair bit. But certainly results to date are very positive. Rosenborg reached the last 16 last year for example, which puts beating Molde in perspective.

I've said before that I think the biggest problem the game has here is where this age level goes next. I think they need to move to a professional set-up to progress, but there isn't any here. You wonder what sort of players we're missing out on as a result. If that's the case, the irony is the extra money on the underage setup is harming the same guys' professional development. The FAI really need to actually start funding the league.

Interesting that there was a lot of hammerings at this stage last year, but only Hammarby and Dudelange (who are lower ranked than any team last year) lost by more than two goals this time. Also worth noting a couple of results in the Group Stages - Real 10-0 APOEL and Spurs 4-0 Dortmund on matchday 1, but in matchday 2, it was APOEL 1-0 Spurs and Dortmund 5-3 Real!

**osarusan** · 29/09/2017, 9:07 AM

Saw a clip of the goals on Facebook - the UCD goals came from poor defending. The second in particular was terrible from both the defender and keeper.

**pineapple stu** · 29/09/2017, 10:18 AM

Where'd you see the goals? Can you post a link here?

Their keeper wasn't great alright - though in fairness to him, the weather meant it really wasn't a night for keepers. (My memory is that he screwed up for the first, but the second was just them giving us the ball almost straight from tip, which wasn't the keeper's fault? But maybe it looked different from the camera angle)

There was plenty of chances in the game; we both had shots off the line and both keepers made decent saves. Some very nice passages of play too. Overall, I think we can go to Molde knowing we can match them again.

**osarusan** · 29/09/2017, 10:42 AM

https://www.facebook.com/HeraldStrik...6wzIZmwY3W6q_s

Don't know how to embed a FB video, but that link should work.

2nd was terrible from defender, but keeper shouldn't have been beaten by the shot either, wasn't that close and not too much pace on it.

**pineapple stu** · 29/09/2017, 10:51 AM

Wow. I think you're being kind on the keeper for the second one! Funny how it looked different from the other side.

I'd actually defend the keeper for the first one; looks like he was unsighted/distracted by his defender sticking a boot out at the ball right in front of him. Add that to the wind and rain which you can't really see on the video, and it's an understandable error.