Collie O'Neill: 'These are the teams we want to be playing week in, week out'

UCD manager Collie O'Neill says he doesn't care who the Students draw in the semi-finals of the FAI Cup after seeing off Premier Division high-fliers Waterford on Friday night.

Goals from Conor Davis and Timmy Molloy were enough to see College past the Blues, who did pull one back late on from the spot through Stanley Aborah.

The win booked the Students a spot in the last four of the FAI Cup for the first time since 2007, when they were narrowly defeated 2-1 by eventual champions Longford Town.

With his side all but confirmed for a return to the Premier Division as champions – they could clinch the title at home to second-place Finn Harps next week – confidence has never been higher.

“With everything that Waterford threw at us, it was going to come down to a set-piece or a corner - that was the only way they were going to score,” O'Neill told extratime.ie.

“The longer it went, Waterford were just gambling that extra little bit, but we were able to deal with what they threw at us.”

While the scoreline looked tight in the end – and Waterford were within a goal of forcing a replay – the Students were comfortably the better side for the majority of the game.

They could have added to their lead in the second half had Molloy and captain Gary O'Neill been more accurate in front of goal.

It was an unforced error from Gary O'Neill that let Waterford back into the game as he tripped Rory Feely in the box, but the final 13 minutes plus injury passed without the goal being threatened again.

The display left Collie O'Neill convinced his side were capable of mixing it with the biggest sides in the country, and he has no preference for which Premier Division heavyweight to face in the semis.



“Tonight was a free crack at a Premier Division team, but I still would have swapped tonight for a win next week to put us up there.

“They're the kind of teams we want to be playing week in, week out. That's the stage these players should rightly be playing on, and hopefully we can do the work next week and get up there.

“We want to go and test ourselves against the best – that's the stage we want to be on. I couldn't care less [who we face]. It's another free crack – we'll just go at it.