UCD manager Collie O'Neill wasn't getting too ahead of himself after his side's 3-2 victory over Waterford FC at Belfield last night. Speaking to the assembled media post match, the Drogheda native was impressed with how his side were able to hold
UCD manager Collie O'Neill wasn't getting too ahead of himself after his side's 3-2 victory over Waterford FC at Belfield last night. Speaking to the assembled media post match, the Drogheda native was impressed with how his side were able to hold on, despite leaking two goals in a whirlwind last fifteen minutes: ''The performance was very similar to last week. We had great patches of play, we've learnt from our mistakes and improved on a few little bits during the week. "I think we just went 3-0 up and thought 'that's not normal for us' so we'll give away two goals and make it a bit more entertaining.'' Despite the absence of club captain Gary O'Neill, UCD won the midfield battle, mainly thanks to Greg Sloggett. The stand in skipper converted the penalty for UCD's third. ''It's good to have two players like Timmy (Molloy) and Greg to cover when Gary's missing to anchor that midfield for us.'' Despite the gap between the two sides being narrowed to four points, O'Neill continued to downplay the deficit: ''The result doesn't change things, we're still gonna work on our performances. Everything needs to be top class and the results will take care of themselves. "It was important to get three points, we could've come away tonight ten points behind and then you've very little to play for.'' Indeed, it seems that the Belfield club are aiming for the future: ''The squad that we have here now is going to be our squad for the next two or three years. It's not going to be like UCD teams in the past, where seven or eight players leave at the end of the season. "We've more or less tied down our whole squad for next year. We're looking to build for next year and the year after. If we can keep this whole squad together, we'll be really competitive.'' UCD now head to Wexford, while the gap at the top could be narrowed further tonight as Cobh Ramblers host Shelbourne in St.Colman's Park. Waterford are back in Dublin next week as they visit Tolka Park.
