Seven defeats in a row mean that UCD are bottom of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division table heading into Monday’s round of fixtures. The Students’ last goal came on Easter Bank Holiday Monday against Dundalk, meaning they’ve gone nearly six
Seven defeats in a row mean that UCD are bottom of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division table heading into Monday’s round of fixtures. The Students’ last goal came on Easter Bank Holiday Monday against Dundalk, meaning they’ve gone nearly six games, and just over nine hours without a top flight goal. But manager Collie O’Neill was quick to call for some context on their slump after Friday’s 1-0 defeat to Shamrock Rovers. ‘No one gets relegated at this stage of the year,’ he told our reporter Peter Branigan, ‘and I think if we keep on putting in performances like that eventually we’ll start to pick up points. ‘It’s been a really, really tough week with so many of them doing exams. On Wednesday I only had 12 players for a training session. We couldn’t train on Monday because they were all doing exams, so thankfully now it’s over.’ Indeed Dan Tobin and Luke Boore were unavailable for the game against The Hoops, and the former’s absence saw O’Neill start with three at the back. Conor Kearns is the type of goalkeeper who will always take a chance in trying to get past onrushing strikers when hit and hope clearances might be the safer option. But he was also doing his primary job, keeping the ball out of the net, very well on Friday. He kept the Students in the game with fine saves against Trevor Clarke and Aaron Green in the first-half, and Dan Carr after the break. For O’Neill, this was reflective of the type of attitude that can see the team rally, and begin to turn their fortunes. ‘All I ever really ask out of them is to play with their heart, play with hunger, play with desire, and I got that in bucket loads tonight. So I can’t really complain. ‘It was a very open game. Even though it only finished 1-0, it could probably have been 4-4. We’re lacking that break, that little bit of luck. Before they scored, Yoyo (Mahdy) had a fantastic chance to tap it in, and it never happened.’ UCD have a chance to pick up some much needed points on Monday when a rejuvenated Cork come to town. The sides clashed last Friday week, with The Rebel Army emerging 2-0 winners at Turners Cross. ‘There was nothing really between the sides last week,’ according to O’Neill. ‘We’ve beaten them here already, so we’ll go at it again.’
