UCD's two bétes noir - appalling refereeing and an inability to finish teams off - came back to haunt the Students again as, for the second time in a week, a last-minute goal cost UCD two points. Those four points would have had us five points clear going into the final ten games; instead, Kildare can narrow the gap to fourth to just six points with a win over Limerick on Saturday.
The first half was scrappy, with the wind not helping the play. Both sides had had half-chances - Alan Mahon creating Bray's best with a short back header - before UCD took the lead on 12 minutes. A ball over the top wrongfooted the Bray defence, and Robbie Martin was on hand to loft over the advancing keeper from the edge of the area to score his fourth goal in four games.
1-0 up away from home, it was time for UCD to fall asleep. And Bray took advantage and were well on top for the final twenty minutes or so of the first half, though it took a controversial equaliser for them to get back on terms. Éamon Zayed shimmied well past a UCD defender on the edge of the area, but then appeared to trip over himself as he moved in on goal. At the worst, it was a very soft challenge, but the referee had no hesitation in awarding Bray a penalty, which Zayed tucked away himself.
Half-time rollicking number twelve of the season was administered at half-time, and it worked for UCD, who were much the stronger team in the second half. Alan McNally came up from the back to beat the keeper to an Alan Mahon free-kick, but his header went agonisingly wide. Maurice Farrell, who had decked Brian Newguy on the opening day of the season and had to have the stewards lead him away from the away fans afterwards, came in for much abuse, and, in a near carbon copy of that incident, pushed Pat Sullivan into the advertising hoardings when trying to retrieve the ball for a throw. The ref cautioned both players, but two minutes later, the same two were at it again, when Farrell was over-rough in trying to get the ball off Sullivan for a throw, but again the referee let him go. Revenge was had by Sullivan ten minutes later when, it appears, he lost control of the ball in midfield and lunged in with a challenge, injuring himself in the process. Farrell was seen seconds later being led away by his team-mates, and when a groggy Sullivan finally got to his feet, he was shown the yellow card for his troubles.
UCD defended the free, and broke themselves immediately. The ball came out to Sullivan, who had hitherto been anonymous in an attacking sense, and he ran thirty yards with the Bray defence retreating, before feeding Mick O'Donnell on the overlap, who finished with a clinical shot from twelve yards.
With only fifteen minutes left at this stage, Bray threw everything into attack, but it was UCD who repeatedly caught them on the counter. Just a minute after the goal, Sullivan was in the thick of the action again, ghosting past one Bray defender in the box before being blatantly clipped from behind, but remarkably neither the referee, who was only five yards away, nor the linesman, who was directly in line with play, saw fit to give the penalty.
In the next ten minutes, UCD created a series of chances - Sullivan cut in from the right again and O'Connor had to be alert to save a shot through a couple of bodies, Philly Hughes had a fine first-time effort from outside the box turned away by O'Connor at his near post, Sullivan embarked on another run into the penalty box with the Bray defence practically non-existent only to shoot straight at O'Connor, Hughes almost took advantage of a Bray defender's missed header but somehow screwed his shot inches wide while a long-range Seán Finn effort was spilled by O'Connor with Willie Doyle - introduced as a late sub for his first appearance in the last five games - in close attention, but O'Connor and a defender just recovered to clear.
As the game became more end-to-end, Bray also had chances, with Kieran O'Brien at the heart of many, but Darren Quigley and Alan Mahon were imperious in defence, with the former rarely being seriously threatened.
Five minutes of injury time were played, and UCD spent much of that camped in the corner of the pitch, shielding the ball from the Seagulls. Bray forced a series of corners when they had the ball, and it was from one in the fifth minute of injury-time that they got their second controversial equaliser of the night. Quigley looked to have been impeded when going up to clear the corner, but the referee gave nothing, and O'Brien was on hand to drill home into the corner.
UCD tipped off, and the final whistle was blown.
UCD - Quigley; Mahon, McAuley, Kenna, McNally; Murphy, Sullivan, Finn, O'Donnell; Hughes, Martin (Doyle). Subs not used - Whelan (GK), Dicker, McWalter, Foley
Att - c 800
