Yoyo Mahdy: We showed that we can battle as well as play football

Andrew Dempsey reports from the UCD Bowl

A defiant UCD produced a stirring fightback to overcome a lethargic Cork City on Monday evening at the UCD Bowl.

Gary O’Neill’s expertly taken penalty at the death was enough to secure all three points for Collie O’Neill’s charges under testing conditions in Belfield.

Speaking after the game to extratime.ie, UCD forward and goalscorer Yoyo Mahdy declared that the late show against the Leesiders proves that the Students can battle and compete at this level.

“It shows that we are good enough to compete at this level,” – the 2018 First Division winner said.   

“To beat a team like Cork, who are competing every year and a there’s us who many don’t know what we’re about. We showed that we can battle as well as play football.

“They pushed us in the first half, and we came in one-nil down feeling hard done by. It was a soft goal to concede but we were told to keep playing and plugging away.

“We knew the chances would come, but the red card played a massive factor in the result and in the end, we got the chances we deserved.”

With ten minutes to go, it looked as if all hope was lost for the Students. However, Collie O’Neill called upon the services of Conor Davis to replace Mark Dignam.

The impact from Davis, coupled with the never say die attitude from the UCD squad was telling as the late goals proved to be decisive for the Belfield outfit.

“Conor has obviously been missing for the last three weeks and you could see the impact he had for us straight away. He came on and made a huge impact for my goal and he was involved in the link up play for the penalty.

“(Unity) is really important for us as a squad. We all have a good link with each other. If we’re giving out to each other on the pitch, it’s never personal.

“It’s all about encouragement and pushing one another on and you saw that after the second goal. Everyone celebrated the winner together and the unity is massive for us.”

UCD must now look to secure a second positive result in a row now against Bohemians on Friday evening at Dalymount Park.

Should they record a win in Phibsborough, it will be the first time the Students have won at the spiritual home of Irish football since 2013 – a challenge that the 21-year-old forward is relishing. 

“Dalymount Park is a great ground. It’s a massive pitch and we know that there’ll be a lot of fans there with them not playing at home in a while. We’re looking forward to the challenge and hopefully we can get a result there. 

“We’re a point behind three teams and we know that we can beat them all. It’s going to be a good division this year and we’re well up for it.”