UCD 3-0 Waterford

[DmanDmythDledge]

A win at last.:)

[Poor Student]

You missed Bogdan's debut start. Shame on you. His genius trickery lead to the corner which gave us our first goal.

We weren't that good to be honest. Waterford had two chances cleared off the line. They are pretty awful though.

[superfrank]

Well I was wrong. And judging by our performance tonight you'll get another 3 points on Thursday night.

[pineapple stu]

Told you so! And Paul Byrne's back too. :) Although I must say I don't think Waterford were as bad as is being made out, especially in the first half.


A brace from Paul Byrne - his first goals in almost a year - helped UCD record their first win of the season with a victory which was somewhat harsh on the visitors from Waterford. In the end, UCD's more clinical finishing was the difference between the two teams, as Waterford had good chances to score - notably in the first half - but just couldn't capitalise.

After scoring just two goals in the opening four games, Pete Mahon changed his attacking line-up, with Bogdan Oprea and Timmy Purcell making their first starts for the club in place of Derek Doyle and Conor Sammon.

Waterford had the better of the opening chances, with Evan McMillan's short backpass letting Paul McCarthy in one-on-one on Matt Gregg, but Gregg saved with his feet right on the edge of his box. And five minutes after that, McCarthy again had a chance to put the Blues ahead when Gregg missed a cross, but Alan McNally was on the line to clear.

UCD took the lead on the 25th minute. Good work from Bogdan enabled him to skip past two Waterford defenders and put in a deep cross, which Conan Byrne, with his back to goal, hooked over his shoulder, and Waterford keeper Dean Delaney had to react well to tip the ball over the bar. From the resulting corner, however, Byrne was on hand to head home for his first goal since the 2005 League Cup Final.

Five minutes later again, College were well in the driving seat when Tim Purcell found Paul Byrne in space, and he finished clinically from the edge of the area for his first goal since the away game against Dublin City last June.

Waterford were still fighting at this stage, and again the UCD defence had to clear off their own line after Matt Gregg could only punch a cross from the right clear to a white shirt.

After the break, the game quietened down, although Conan Byrne was desperately unlucky not to score when his shot from the edge of the area crashed off the top of the bar. But the points were sealed with minutes remaining when Paul Byrne went past one defender and unleashed a shot from the 25 yards which flew into the top corner, leaving Delaney no chance.

UCD: Gregg, Mahon (Bermingham 90), McMillan, Kenna, McNally, Crowley (King 90), C Byrne, Finn, P Byrne, Purcell, Oprea (Doyle 65).

[pineapple stu]

Two points of note, incidentally. Conor Sammon was apparently left out of the squad because he was late, ad we'e now scored more goals than all bar three teams in the division.

[CollegeTillIDie]

You missed Bogdan's debut start. Shame on you. His genius trickery lead to the corner which gave us our first goal.

We weren't that good to be honest. Waterford had two chances cleared off the line. They are pretty awful though.

I'll take a 3-0 win every day we were totally in control in the second half.;)
What's Bermingham's first name? I didn't catch it on the PA.

[Burnsie]

Ian Bermingham I think

[Poor Student]

Despite Bohs fans' reservations about him, Gregg is proving to be a solid signing. Pity about the dodgy defending that called him into action once or twice. I'm still pretty confused about Quigley's absence though.

Oprea looked pretty good. Some very entertaining tricks but I'd have preferred to see the ball fed to him a bit more. Conan did very well again. He works hard, gets himself into space and looks for the ball and in spite of his pace he does manage to get around men.

Hopefully we can get Tony Mac back in the middle. I don't think Crowley and Finn will control the midfield against better opposition. 3-0 is a great confidence building result in any case. Hopepfully we can beat Bray next week and the season's start won't look so bad.

[Burnsie]

cregg came off his line magnificently a couple of times, but he never looked too convincing when coming to punch and his kicking was fairly dodgy. i'll reserve judgment.

bogdan looks a player if we can get him into the game a bit more, and i was quite impressed with purcell stepping into the sammo role, bothering defenders and linking play up.

finishing aside, this was a poor display though. waterford were gash.

[Poor Student]

I didn't notice the Million Dollar* Man's kicking to be that much of a problem. It's good to know we've got an experienced person to call upon at the very least. It also helps to have some senior heads in the squad with so much inexperience around.



*£400k in New Zealand Dollars

[lefty]

Very poor match, we deserved the win, but to be honest that was my first match of the season and there wasnt much there to write home about. Waterford were like a non league team for their part and looked like they didnt even want to be there

[DmanDmythDledge]

cregg came off his line magnificently a couple of times, but he never looked too convincing when coming to punch and his kicking was fairly dodgy.
I've got the same impression of him.

Good to see PB getting amongst the goals once again. Now that he has got one I'm sure they will keep coming. He has the potential to be a ten goal a season striker at the very least, and now that he has gotten over his injury problems he can solve our goalscoring problem.

How was the defence? Solid? What were we like in midfield, particularly the centre midfield partnership?

Anyone catch the unused subs or official attendence?

[Poor Student]

Good to see PB getting amongst the goals once again. Now that he has got one I'm sure they will keep coming. He has the potential to be a ten goal a season striker at the very least, and now that he has gotten over his injury problems he can solve our goalscoring problem.

It remains to be seen whether it was one off or not. His second goal was top drawer. More of that kind of shooting would give us more options. I thought Purcell settled in well beisde him. It'd be interesting to see Purcell and Sammo together.


How was the defence? Solid? What were we like in midfield, particularly the centre midfield partnership?

A bit dodgy at times. Gregg had to do well to stop an intercepted backpass from McMillan that fell well short, a situation that was a result of a terrible clearance/pass by Alan Mahon.


Anyone catch the unused subs or official attendence?

Schumi's guess was about 400. A good colourful presence of Waterford fans. The unused subs were Fran Moran and Darren Quigley.

[pineapple stu]

Unused subs were Quigley and Moran.

Defence was a bit shaky, which resulted in Waterford having some decent chances in the first half, but at least we got back to clear off the line each time.

Still, we howed more in attack than in the pervious few games this season, which is a positive.

[Stephen123]

. I'm still pretty confused about Quigley's absence though..


Quigley officially isn't playing because he took a knock recently. That's what is being said anyway.

Unofficially there are one or two rumours that i've heard that he's turned into a big time charlie from his trials pre season abroad, and thinks he is too big for the club. He may be being thought a lesson by Mahon by leaving him on the bench.

[pineapple stu]

Hmmm...never heard that one before!

Can add him to the list including Clive Delaney (I think), Gary Dicker and many more...

[GavinZac]

just out of curiosity, when was the last time UCD scored 3 goals?

[pineapple stu]

Beat Bray 4-0 and 4-1 last year. Beat Sligo 3-0 as well, and recorded 3-1 wins against Limerick and Longford.

It's not all that rare!!

[DmanDmythDledge]

just out of curiosity, when was the last time UCD scored 3 goals?
Last game of last season, 3-1 against Longford at home.

Also scored 4 against Bray twice last season and 3 against Sligo and Limerick.

[GavinZac]

It's not all that rare!!

I know, but I just couldnt think of any time off the top of my head. Well done.

[Schumi]

You're all wrong. We scored 4 against Wexford and Kildare in pre-season. :p

[Burnsie]

from the University Observer...


Waterford Suffer Third Degree Byrnes

UCD revved up their flagging season with their first eircom League win against a dire Waterford United team at Belfield Park thanks to a goal from Conan Byrne and two from Paul Byrne.

Despite somewhat patched-up starting eleven, and not a single goal in their first two home games this year, College showed the sort of ruthless finishing that they have sorely missed during the last eighteen months. And although their general play was actually below par, the visitors offered so little in reply that they could not complain about their drubbing.

Missing for the Students was their injured captain Tony McDonnell, as well as unsettled goalie Darren Quigley and dropped striker Conor Sammon; three very important players. The latter was ably replaced by debutant Timmy Purcell, who took on the role of tirelessly harrying the opposition back four and linking up play with the other forwards, while winter signing Matt Gregg guarded the nets. Bogdan Oprea started for the Students for the first time.

To restate the point: this was a game of poor quality. Both defences seemed uncertain, the midfield tussle was listless and there were few chances. It was apt that the first chance followed a defensive error, when UCD's Evan McMillan, under pressure from Paul McCarthy, fluffed his backpass dreadfully. Gregg relied on his outfield skills to execute a well-timed tackle on McCarthy and save the day. McCarthy had the next good chance for the Blues when Gregg's attempted punch failed to connect cleanly, and the ball broke to the Waterford midfielder on the penalty spot. He placed his shot past the keeper but Alan McNally was able to stop it on the line and clear.

The opening goal on 25 minutes owed a lot to the Romanian winger Oprea, whose tenacity and trickery earned enough space to chip a back-post cross. Conan Byrne hooked a volley at goal which was pushed over the bar by Delaney. From the corner, the same pair combined, Oprea supplying a viciously curling delivery which was crashed into the net by Byrne's header at the near post.

It was 2-0 just a few minutes later, when the visiting side paid the price for porous defending. Ronan Finn and Paul Byrne could have brought a fleet of double-decker buses with them as they ran onto Crowley's scooped pass, and in the event Byrne was able to bring the ball down and pick his spot in the far corner of the net with a precise right-footed finish.

More conscientious defending by McNally protected the Students' lead a minute later, as the classy centre-back again retreated to the goalline to keep out a shot that had beaten Cregg.

But the rest of the half was dull. The Blues' irascible midfielder Alan Reynolds seemed to be doing his best to get sent off, earning a booking for scything down Finn as a high ball dropped and then needling referee Whorigan with backchat. Waterford generally looked toothless against a sturdy College backline, for whom the youngster McMillan recovered well from his early blunder with another strong display.

Shortly after half time, there was almost a spectacular goal when a deft nudge by Paul Byrne laid on his namesake Conan, who stormed past Flynn and two other defenders before cutting in onto his left foot and dribbling a tame shot straight at Delaney. The most encouraging aspect of the UCD performance was the impact of the two wingers, who terrorised their markers with the sort of pacey and direct dribbling that lit up the end of the Students' season in 2006.

Waterford were abject for most of the game, and with UCD having no real imperative to keep the pressure on, the match became a turgid affair as it went on, characterised by the keepers and fullbacks belting clearances downfield to one another. The substitute Daryl Kavanagh livened things up for the visitors, spinning away from his marker on 81 minutes and cracking in a low shot that Cregg blocked with his legs. And the same man again threatened a few minutes later when he collected Reynolds's long pass only for the keeper to deny him again, speeding off his line and diving brilliantly at the striker's feet.

As Waterford finally began to try and salvage something from the game, gaps appeared in their rearguard. Conan Byrne collected Purcell's pass cutting in from the flank but curled his shot just too high; it clipped the crossbar on its way over.

But if there was any danger that the match would fizzle out, it was dispelled by an extraordinary third goal for College. Paul Byrne made a sliding tackle not far inside the Waterford half, took a further touch to set himself and then unleashed a breathtaking shot from his right boot that rocketed into the top corner of the goal. He was at least thirty yards away but no goalkeeper in the world could have stopped it, such was the ferocity of the strike. Before this match, Byrne's drought without a goal had stretched for almost a year, but this astonishing effort must have somewhat made up for the long wait. Surely there has never before been a UCD player booked for removing his shirt in over-exuberant celebration.

So UCD are off the mark for the season, and the emphasis of the win if not the quality of the performance will give them heart going into a run of winnable matches, especially as important players return to the team. Manager Pete Mahon will surely be aware however that far sterner tests await his side, and presuming that this sudden bounty of lethal finishing is fleeting, further improvements will be required upon this display to lift College up the table.

[pineapple stu]

Surely there has never before been a UCD player booked for removing his shirt in over-exuberant celebration.
Are you Deco in disguise? :p

To put your mind at ease, by the way, I recall Alan Cawley being booked against Longford on the last day of the relegation season for taking his shirt off to celebrate.

[Schumi]

To put your mind at ease, by the way, I recall Alan Cawley being booked against Longford on the last day of the relegation season for taking his shirt off to celebrate.
Was thinking of that as well. Did he get booked though? I was too depressed at the time to notice.

[DmanDmythDledge]

It remains to be seen whether it was one off or not.
It's obvious that he has the talent so I doubt it is a one off. All he needed was a goal to regain his confidence.


A good colourful presence of Waterford fans.
http://baultras.bestbulletinboard.com/ucd-away-vt95.html?sid=38ce897a3d11ee3ff2551aaae99d5bf2

[CollegeTillIDie]

Was a shame that the game was not legally allowed to be ccelebrated with driinks in the pub afterwards, with a number of our supporters having to be content with a cup of coffee in the lobby of the montrose hotel.
Unfortunatley though, the big mistake made by the security was letting certain members of us even into the lobby, and we predictably made our way into the bar and joined a bunch of lads from gibralter and stayed for a good while before eventually being kicked out

By having coffee you were not breaching the licencing laws so they could not chuck you out as such. Once you had gotten in. I was asked when I went in after the game and said I wanted a cup of coffee. Possibly setting a precedent for the rest of ye :D

[TheBoss]

Anybody booked ?

[Poor Student]

Anybody booked ?

Tim Purcell and Paul Byrne for UCD. Alan Keeley, Alan Mulcahy and surprisingly Alan Reynolds for Waterford. Mind if I ask what that's all about, TheBoss?

[TheBoss]

On the site that I contribute for

http://www.playerhistory.com/Default.aspx?page=national_countryCmpSeasonList&levelID=1&nationID=253

I do the Rep of Ireland section, and add the match facts to the games.

[CollegeTillIDie]

We do very much appreciate you making it easier for us to get in, thanks.
we had a few pints ourselves hiding down the back and gettin a foreign lad from gibralter to go to the bar for us

Well the lad from Gibraltar was a '' resident'' and so not breaching the licencing laws. What he did with his pint of course was his own affair once he purchased it :D