Shamrock Rovers vs. UCD

Much maligned UCD are in a race to beat the clock and the drop. However, they will have the rare luxury of entering this Friday night’s clash with Shamrock Rovers at Tolka Park (kick-off 8pm) in confident mood, after securing just their second win in four months against fallen champions Drogheda United at the Belfield Bowl last weekend.

Shamrock Rovers, on the other hand, will be looking to recover lost points after letting a two-goal lead slip at home to Bray Wanderers on Tuesday evening. “It was disappointing and kind of summed up the season we’re having,” Rovers manager Pat Scully said following that result. “But while we were sluggish in the first-half, I thought we played some really good football after the break.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that we should have been 4-0 up, but it killed us when we conceded a goal straight after we scored our second. We let them back in when the game should have been over. We’ve got some very young players at Shamrock Rovers, and they need to focus at key moments, such as after scoring. It’s something they’ll learn as they develop as players.”

Scully has also admitted a fondness for UCD and hopes they stave off the threat of relegation. “I’ve got great respect for Pete Mahon,” he said. “He runs things very well and UCD always try to play good football. I hope that they stay up, as the club is one of the most honest in the league. But, of course, we won’t be doing them any favours. From our perspective, we need to turn our good play into more consistent results so we’ll be looking for all three points.”

In the sides’ previous meeting at Tolka Park this season, back in April, UCD were denied a priceless win by a late, late equaliser from Padraig Amond. The Students had gone in front thanks to a free-kick from the now departed Derek Doyle. Since then, in Rovers’ only visit to the College club this term, goals from Tadhg Purcell and Amond gave the Hoops a comfortable 2-0 victory.

Team News: Shamrock Rovers will be without injured midfielder Eric McGill (foot). Fellow midfielder Joseph Ndo is still recovering from a thigh strain, while there are slight doubts over left-back Pat Flynn, winger Sean O’Connor and right-back Ger O’Brien. However, all three should be fit to play. Neither side has any suspensions to contend with, leaving UCD with a fully fit panel to choose from.

Extratime.ie Prediction: UCD will take a great amount of confidence from last week’s win over Drogheda and could cause another shock here. 1-0 away win.