UCD's bogey over Drogheda United in Belfield Park continued on Sunday night, and after three previous league results where the Students didn't get the result they deserved, a draw tonight was about fair in a match which only rose above the mundane in the last quarter of an hour.
Alan Mahon was added to UCD's injury list - including Tony McDonnell, Paul Byrne, Conan Byrne and Jimmy Lee Matthews - and was replaced by Darragh Ryan, with Conor Kenna moving to left-back. Drogheda, fresh from a 1-1 UEFA Cup draw in Helsinki, started former UCD midfielder Gavin Whelan and gave Tony Grant his league debut since signing from Bohs.
The game started at a good pace, with Drogheda having the better of the chances. A free-kick from 25 yards out was superbly tipped over the bar by Darren Quigley within the opening quarter of an hour, and Quigley was to present Drogheda with their next chance when fumbling a corner from the left, only for the UCD defence to clear. Shortly before the half-hour, only a last-ditch tackle from Alan McNally - captain for the day - denied the Drogs a run on goal after a superb run had taken Jason Gavin past Conor Sammon and Alan Cawley.
The best chance of the half fell to Tony Grant, who capitalised on a rare error from Brian Shortall on the edge of the box to find himself one on one with Darren Quigley. Grant rounded the Irish U-21 keeper but Conor Kenna recovered in time to clear off the line.
UCD's best chance of the half came from Alan Cawley, but his attempted chip from a weak defensive header sailed narrowly over the bar.
Drogheda brought on Éamon Zayed for the ineffective Shane Barrett at half-time, and Zayed had a great chance to open the scoring early on in the half when he beat Darren Quigley to a through ball to loft over the keeper from the corner of the area, but again Conor Kenna was on hand to clear off the line.
On the hour mark, Darragh Ryan's volley from 25 yards was UCD's best chance before a shot from a Drogheda corner was deflected and cleared off the line once more; from the rebound, Jason Gavin curled harmlessly over the bar.
Shortly after the hour mark, UCD introduced John Brophy and Kieran Harte for Stephen Hurley and Alan Cawley and the balance of play swung the way of the Students. First, Brophy went past two Drogheda players to come up to the edge of the box; his pass let in Gary Dicker, but the midfielder was just too long getting his shot away, and it was blocked. Then from the third of a series of corners, Brian Shortall rippled the side netting with a fierce drive from 12 yards before the chance of the match fell to UCD. Pressure from Conor Sammon forced a mistake from the Drogheda defence, and John Brophy found himself clear on goal with only Connor to beat; his delicate chip did beat Connor, but somehow also beat the far post by mere inches.
UCD continued to attack, and Gary Dicker had a header cleared off the line from another corner with two minutes to go. Drogheda went straight down the pitch and, from a low cross, Zayed poked wide from no more than four yards out.
Overall, a draw was probably a fair result, one which extends UCD's recent run to one defeat in eight games (though remarkably, there have been only two wins in that sequence). Included in that have been draws against Derry, Drogheda and Pat's, and a narrow defeat against Cork, which should upt Pete Mahon's charges in a confident mood ahead of Friday's tripa cross town to troubled Shelbourne.
UCD - Quigley; Kenna, Ryan, Shortall, McNally; Cawley (Harte 68), Hurley (Brophy 68), Dicker, Doyle; Sammon, McWalter. Subs not used - Hussey, Last, Quinn.
Att - 650
The Brophy miss haunts me, badly. It's like Paul Byrne versus Bohs last season, which I'm still not over. It's not that it was a blast over the bar on an open goal from two yards, but something about both had me convinced they had gone in even after they passed the post. The draw was probably fair enough, Drogs will rue their own missed chances. I'm pleased not to be defeated by them. First fair result in a month.
Kenna played right back.Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Decent result, but we seemed reluctant to support the strikers from midfield.
You can't spell failure without FAI
i think we played well.....brophy's only a young lad....he prob just got a rush of blood to the head...he did well when he came on.....hes a big strong centre forward that we need....he'l do well in time to come..i tought alan mcnally was man of the match....he seems to like playing well against drogs for some reason??! some last ditch tackles and calmness under pressure was clear for every1 to see...quigley made some good saves..(like from the free kick in the 1st half)..all in all we could have won the game....but they had their chances aswell....so a draw was a fair result...
"float like a butterfly,sting like a bee-his hands cant hit what his eyes cant see!"
Draw was a fair result but we should have won. I'll put Brophy's miss down to nerves as he seems to do the business for the U-21s. Quigley was a bit dodgy at times but made a few good saves. Doyle actually looked good on the left but I would still prefer Dazza there.
brophy did very well wen he came on for about 10 mins after he came on ucd were all over drogheda nd they hav a good few chances brophy was making good runs nd he set up dicker but he must hav got nervous for the 1on1 im sure he will do the buisness for d 1st team like he is 4 the 21s doyler was good aswell but man of the match was mcnally
Last edited by mossey2006; 17/07/2006 at 12:58 PM.
Seconded. Allie Mac was superb.
I see John Brophy was mentioned as a debutante is most reports. Only the truly sad recall his real debut a minute before Paul Byrne in the last game Willie Doyle ever scored for us in...down in Limerick in that 3-0 win almost two years ago. Assumed he'd left last season, but had a great game when he came on.
Btw, just to clarify, I'm not slating Brophy, it's just freaks me out because I thought it had gone it. I think he offers us strength to harry and push opposition defenders and he's certainly a different option for us. I've been wanting to see him come on for a few weeks now. How old is he? I had also assumed he left last season and was surprised to hear off Maccer in the preseason that he was still around.
Ally Mac was immense, yes. We do have one of the better defence records in the league this year. Doyler shows flashes of quality, but you'd just wish he'd take on his man more. In Hurley and Doyle we have as John83 put it to me "very conservative wingers".
Doyler's starting to take on his man a lot more lately. I'd like to see Pat Kavanagh given a start though.
I see Brian Gannon scored for Monaghan at the weekend. (And was then sent off)
Just looking back at the Limerick game thread - seems it was Darren O'Brien who came on, not John Brophy. So last night was his debut.
Do you mean in the league or in general? I reckon he played in the League Cup win over Dub City last season.
yeah brophy missed most of last year wit a back injury nd he is 19/20 but might hav played in the league cup
Ah, good stuff. All I can remember about him was that he almost cracked the goal with a blasted short range miss in the U-21 final last year.
Beat his man very nicely in front of us near the end (just after I told him to as well).
We're not arrogant, we're just better.
Keep it up.Beat his man very nicely in front of us near the end (just after I told him to as well
You can't spell failure without FAI
Sorry I didn't make it down but I was nearly hospitalised by 7pm Sunday night, not from the booze but from the night before, or lack of it. Without seeing the match you have to say its a result & better than "nul point".
"I always likened him to a Rolls Royce. You just used him once a week & he'd be flawless"
Townsend on McGrath
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