UCD 3-1 Limerick

[DmanDmythDledge]

A few things I noticed from this game;

1) We play better playing 4-4-1-1 with Finn in the hole
2) We play better when we go 1-0 down

Overall good second half performance. We were comfortable once Finn got his second, which was almost straight away. We had a slow start to the match and Limerick deserved their lead but it was relatively easy once we equalised but Limerick slighty edged the first half.

Finn was superb again today, 3rd game in a row he's been MOTM.

[fc hammer]

How did our keeper do tonight ?

[sligoman]

but it was relatively easy once we equalisedWell surely you'd expect it to be when the other team has a midfielder in goals?

[DmanDmythDledge]

How did our keeper do tonight ?
Didn't make any spectacular saves. The ones he saved were straight at him. Couldn't fault him for any of the goals.


Well surely you'd expect it to be when the other team has a midfielder in goals?
We had more of the ball and made better use of it when we had it. The team's keeper wouldn't have a bearing on this, although I thought we should have taken some long range shots.

[Lim till i die]

Didn't make any spectacular saves. The ones he saved were straight at him. Couldn't fault him for any of the goals.


Although I wouldn't fault him as such, what with him being a midfielder an all, but in all fairness your second goal was faintly ridiculous ;)

[DmanDmythDledge]

Although I wouldn't fault him as such, what with him being a midfielder an all, but in all fairness your second goal was faintly ridiculous ;)
Forgot about him not diving for that one! Don't think he would have got down to it though.

[Lim till i die]

Forgot about him not diving for that one! Don't think he would have got down to it though.

That's because he's a MIDFIELDER!! :eek: ;)

[DmanDmythDledge]

That's because he's a MIDFIELDER!! :eek: ;)
Ye but I think he would have taken a fairly handy keeper to stop it.

[Lim till i die]

Ye but I think he would have taken a fairly handy keeper to stop it.

In all fairness man I genuinely think your second and to a lesser extent your third were very saveable for a semi-professional keeper :ball:

On a slight aside, what did you think of us?? We came away very encouraged tbh

[gael353]

Actually i thought the 2nd and 3rd goals were savable. The 3rd although looking like a spectacular free kick any keeper who could dive would have saved it but i thought Tommy was a top guy to go in goal. I thought the attendence was pretty shocking about 80/90!!!

[sligoman]

I thought the attendence was pretty shocking about 80/90!!!:eek:, you serious?

[Lim till i die]

you serious?

150 at the very very most I reckon :ball:

Time was Limerick were a massive draw..... even bigger then Sligo :eek: :p

[DmanDmythDledge]

On a slight aside, what did you think of us?? We came away very encouraged tbh
I was surprised by your performance. Came out with good intent, to really have a go at us and it paid off. I thought your defence kept letting our forwards in behind and could have been more than 3-1 if our midfield had the vision the pick out a defence splitting pass. I'd say your results will definitely improve based on that performance.

[DmanDmythDledge]

150 at the very very most I reckon :ball:

Time was Limerick were a massive draw..... even bigger then Sligo :eek: :p
198 was counted.

[Lim till i die]

I was surprised by your performance. Came out with good intent, to really have a go at us and it paid off. I thought your defence kept letting our forwards in behind and could have been more than 3-1 if our midfield had the vision the pick out a defence splitting pass.

Ya I noticed a few "Teething problems" with our three at the back alright :ball:

Think we could win a lot of matches 6-5 between now and the end of the season :)

[sligoman]

198 was counted.Was this by Stu by any chance?:confused:.

[DmanDmythDledge]

Was this by Stu by any chance?:confused:.
No it was Schumi although I think it may have been 200 because I saw Gary Dicker and probably his bird leave before he went around!

[Lim till i die]

198 was counted.

Still absolutely nothing to write home about though :ball:

Fairplay to the loyal few that do bother I've often known the feeling :(

[Bald Student]

Maximum respect to Limerick, you really came at the game with a good attitude. Your goal was very well taken, though trying to score from the kick-off might have been a bit optimistic. The keeper wasn't terrible but he didn't have much to do either. I'm surprised we didn't take a lot more long range shots.

Your midfield did look wrecked by the end of the game, they could probably do with loosing a few pounds.

[gael353]

198 was counted.

That seems very high lads

[Lim till i die]

Your midfield did look wrecked by the end of the game, they could probably do with loosing a few pounds.

*sings* Two Johnny Lestors, There's only two Johnny Lestors :eek: :D

I also appreciate the respect :cool:

[DmanDmythDledge]

Still absolutely nothing to write home about though :ball:

Fairplay to the loyal few that do bother I've often known the feeling :(
Around 5 o'clock I was worried we wouldn't even break the 50 mark:eek: I've never been at a game in Belfield with a worse atmosphere. I think the afternoon games make it a more relaxed atmosphere. I'm glad we're moving back to Fridays.

[Lim till i die]

I've never been at a game in Belfield with a worse atmosphere.

Hey, I did my best :p

[DmanDmythDledge]

Hey, I did my best :p
So did I but not many others seemed too bothered:(

[Lim till i die]

So did I but not many others seemed too bothered:(

The least ye could have done was get up off your seats once in awhile :p

[DmanDmythDledge]

The least ye could have done was get up off your seats once in awhile :p
The only time that happened was for the "rush" to the tea-room at half time!

[Lim till i die]

There was tea??!! :eek: :mad: :p

[DmanDmythDledge]

That seems very high lads
Schumi counts every game and he's usually spot on so I see no reason to see why he would have miscounted.

There was tea??!! :eek: :mad:
It isn't that great but it will come in handy in the cold nights towards the end of the season.:D

[Lim till i die]

Typical Bloody Dublin hospitality. Not so much as a cup of tea for your travelling Mid-Western friends :mad: :p

[DmanDmythDledge]

Typical Bloody Dublin hospitality. Not so much as a cup of tea for your travelling Mid-Western friends :mad: :p
I'm sure you would have been allowed to "the other side of the fence" if ye went over.:)

[pineapple stu]

Yeah, the count was roughly in line with what I thought it would be. No idea why it was so poor - we had a higher crowd for a 6pm kick-off the day of the World Cup semi!!! Doubt Arsenal-Man City at the same time on Sky helped. Maybe Fridays are better...

Limerick were a handy team - didn't realise Danny Drew was manager for the day! - but I think once we went 1-0 down, we started to play and deserved the win in the end. A proper keeper probably would have saved the second, but not sure about the third.

[pineapple stu]

UCD advances to their fourth quarter-final in six years with a hard-fought win over managerless and keeperless Limerick FC in Belfield this evening. Despite their recent troubles, Limerick took the lead against the Students, only for a Ronan Finn brace to help UCD advance to the last eight.

Limerick had to re-shuffle their team with midfielder Tommy Barrett going in nets with their three regulars keepers out through injury, and the FAI refusing permission for new signing Austin O'Neill to play. UCD also had changes to make due to suspension and ineligibility, with Brian Shortall, Paul Byrne and Darragh Ryan coming in to replace Gary Dicker (suspended), Paul Crowley (cup-tied) and Derek Doyle (injured).

Limerick started off by far the better, countering quickly and getting numbers back to defend, and it was 25 minutes before UCD managed to get a shot in on Barrett. However, five minutes later, Limerick had the lead when a well-worked move saw them carve open the UCD defence, and Robbie Kelleher curled home a superb shot from 12 yards past the helpless Quigley.

The goal spurred UCD into action, and the Students were level three minutes later when Conor Sammon played in Ronan Finn, who made no mistake from a similar distance witho nly the keeper to beat.

Pete Mahon can't have been happy with his charges at the break, and he signalled his dissatisfaction with a double substitution at half-time. However, the subs hadn't ben fully announced by the time UCD took the lead seconds into the second half - Ronan Finn having a punt from the edge of the area, and Barrett's lack of goalkeeping expertise showing as the shot snuck in at the near post.

Whatever about the second, there was little Barrett could do about UCD's third - a superb free-kick from Stephen Hurley straight into the top corner from 30 yards out.

Limerick, to their credit, never gave up, and came close to puttling one back on a couple of occasions, notably when Darren Quigley had to react superbly to save a deflected effort from six yards, while Alan McNally had to clear off his own line, with Qugley chesting down the clearance and clearing for fear of conceding a free-kick from a ref who had been giving some highly dubious decisions throughout the game. At the other end, debutante Timmy Purcell was nearest to adding to UCD's tally when rounding Barrett, but his touch was just too hard and the ball ran out of play before Purcell could slot into an empty net.

It was hardly a vintage UCD performance, but it matters not as the Students became the first team through to the quarters and will await next week's draw with interest. After three narrow defeats - two in extra time of a replay - is luck finally about to turn UCD's way?

UCD - Quigley; Mahon, Kenna, Shortall, McNally; McDonnell, Ryan (Hurley 45), Finn, McWalter; Sammon (Purcell 83), P Byrne (C Byrne 45). Subs not used - Hussey, Harte, O'Sullivan, AN Other.

Att - 198

[Bald Student]

UCD advances to their fourth quarter-final in six years Madam,
Singular noun, singular verb, plural pronoun. Is this a record?
Yours &c,
Bald Student

[Poor Student]

I thought we were very poor for the first 25-30 mins. That said, Limerick also played quite well, their goal was very nice, some good incisive football and a quality finish. I think the reason the second goal went in with such ease was down to Barrett's positioning. I think his inexperience in goal left him to expose the post far too much and there was no point in even diving. I think it was a great spot by Finn who seems to be a player with great awareness. His positioning possibly let him down for the free kick too. He did his best though. Fair play to the Limerick fans. Though few in number (like ourselves!) they made some noise and sang their team off at the end. Another very encouraging performance from young Finn. I hope the rusty performance was just down to the week off.

[CollegeTillIDie]

I hope the rusty performance was just down to the week off.

We should have looked to play some Serie B team in a friendly last week like say... Juventus :D

[Lim till i die]

Fair play to the Limerick fans. Though few in number (like ourselves!) they made some noise and sang their team off at the end.

It's nice to be appreciated once in awhile :p

[pineapple stu]

Madam,
Singular noun, singular verb, plural pronoun. Is this a record?
Yours &c,
Bald Student
Madam,
I object to meaningless, petty letters from people who just want themselves to be heard. The first such incident occurred in 1957...

I can't change now. You missed the real error though - I should of course have used the past tense, not the present tense. I have explained my logic for considering a team to be a plural noun (on the basis that the opposite of "we" is "they", not "it"), and won't be changing that. I'm not sure if drinking until whatever time the post was counts as an error or not.

Unless yours was merely a sketch of those irritating one-liners in the Irish Times, the authors of which should be summarily shot as a general rule.

Yours &c,
Me.

[Schumi]

That seems very high ladsThe inexperienced in counting small crowds in Belfield always underestimate the amount of people standing around the ground. There were 120 (I think) people standing around the fence which is more than it looks. The crowd was still brutal though obviously, for whatever reason.

[CollegeTillIDie]

Irish people cannot be arsed to go to REAL live soccer under any circumstances per chance?;)

[CollegeTillIDie]

Two interested spectators at the game from Germany were Sven and Michael. They are fans of FFC Frankfurt, Germany's leading WOMEN'S team. The two guys came over for the Republic of Ireland V Germany , Women's World Cup Qualification Group 4 match earlier in the day.
Then, they wanted to visit Belfield Park, cause they are friends of two guys who write a book called Groundhoppers.
This book lists all the Grounds in the major Leagues in Europe( where possible). And there are a hardcore group of fans in the country who buy the book .These are fans who want to visit all the grounds in a League in a foreign country.

One of the lads has only 4 more grounds to visit in Sweden
The other one is trying to get to all the 4th Division grounds in Germany.
Anyway just thought I'd share that with you, and the Bowl will be in the next Edition :D

[pineapple stu]

And what did they make of Belfield then...?

[CollegeTillIDie]

There were many latecomers to the game last week which might account somewhat for the discrepancy between estimated figures and counted ones.