League Report: UCD 1 - 1 Drogheda United

UCD and Drogheda United produced an exciting 1-1 draw to solidify their promotion play-off places on a balmy evening at Belfield.

 

The visitors took a deserved lead through their captain, Sean Brennan, in the 70th minute and looked set for a victory which would return them to second place in the First Division table, but the Students battled back to secure a vital point thanks to Ryan Swan's 83rd minute strike.

 

The first-half opened with both teams set up in similar 4-5-1 formations and looking to play neat possession football. UCD had the better of the opening exchanges with Kieran 'Marty' Waters looking particularly dangerous out on the right flank. The first opportunity of the game fell to Swan after five minutes who flashed a header just wide of the Boynesiders' net after a dangerous inswinging cross from Jason McClelland.

 

The game began as a very open affair with both teams playing attractive attacking football. Drogheda’s first clearcut chance fell to striker Mark Griffin who raced through an absent UCD defence, but bearing down on goal Griffin could only produce a weak effort straight at Niall Corbet who managed to palm the ball away to safety.

 

As the opening 45 minutes wore on, Drogheda started to seize the initiative from UCD and were dominating possession. Brennan, in particular, was excellent in the first-half, controlling the tempo of the game and looking assured with the ball at his feet. With Drogs now in the ascendancy, the inexperienced UCD defence was being put under sustained pressure.

 



On 21 minutes Collie O'Neill's side failed to deal with an inswinging corner effectively and, after a scramble in the penalty box, Aaron Ashe’s snapshot struck the outside of the post with Corbet well beaten. 

 

Then, just after the half hour mark, there was a real moment of controversy. A Gary O’Neill corner was headed in at the back-post by Jack Watson to seemingly give the home side the lead. With the UCD players wheeling off in celebration the linesman had his flag up indicating foul play.

 

After referee Michael O'Connor had initially awarded the goal, he consulted his linesman and subsequently disallowed Watson's header for a push in the back. A free out was awarded amid boos and jeers from a disgruntled home crowd. The half ended without any further chances of note, though UCD debutant Jack Ryan did receive a yellow card for a reckless challenge in midfield.

 



The second-half resumed with UCD making a tactical change by bringing on Georgie Kelly up front and reverting to a 4-3-3 with Swan and Waters on either flank. The change did not have the desired effect as Drogheda continued to control proceedings and were looking dangerous going forward.

 

In the 55th minute, Josh Collins was caught in possession by the energetic Brennan who strode forward into the UCD box. With a teammate waiting inside for a tap-in, Brennan instead decided to shoot for goal and Corbet produced an excellent fingertip save high up to his right-hand corner. 

 

However, Pete Mahon's men were not to be denied and the breakthrough came in the 70th minute. Brennan burst onto a breaking ball, strode into the box, side-stepped a despairing Collins' lunge and produced a wonderful curling effort past Corbet into the net. It was a deserved lead for Drogheda who had been the much better team for long stages of the second-half.

 

In response to falling behind, O'Neill made two attacking changes to try and wrestle the tie back in his team's favour, with the UCD boss introducing the veteran striker Jason Byrne and midfielder Daire O'Connor – and the Students wouldn't have to wait long as an excellent goal by the impressive Swan levelled the tie.

 

The equaliser came after good work by substitute Georgie Kelly who swung in a dangerous cross from the left flank. The ball fell to UCD skipper Gary O’Neill who exchanged passes with Byrne on the edge of the box before laying it off for Swan to finish past Stephen McGuinness in the Drogheda goal for his fifth league goal of the season.

 

Having found a way back into the game, UCD poured forward seeking an unlikely winner. It looked like it would be Byrne who would get it when he connected with a header in the 85th minute, but it sailed agonisingly over the bar.

 

That was the last notable chance in the game and overall a draw was a fair result. Both teams consolidated their positions in the league table and neither produced enough to ultimately take all three points. 

 

UCD: Niall Corbet, Mark Langtry, Sean Coyne (Daire O’Connor 77), Liam Scales, Josh Collins, Jack Ryan (Georgie Kelly 45), Kieran 'Marty' Waters (Jason Byrne 77), Gary O’Neill, Ryan Swan, Jack Watson, Jason McClelland.

Subs Not Used: Conor O Donnell, Daniel Tobin, Darragh Corcoran, Andy O’Reilly.

Booked: Jack Ryan (45), Liam Scales (91).

 

Drogheda United: Stephen McGuinness, Colin Deasy, Stephen Dunne, Kevin Farragher, Jake Hyland, Mark Griffin (Sam O’Connor 84), Sean Brennan (Sean Thornton 84), Luke Gallagher, Gareth McCaffrey, Aaron Ashe, Richie Purdy.

Subs Not Used: Paddy Dunican, Lloyd Buckley, Derek Doyle, John McKeown, Liam Donnolly.

 

Referee: Michael O'Connor.

Attendance: 400 (est).

ExtraTime Man of the Match: Sean Brennan.

 

You can see pitures from the game as taken by Larry McQuillan.