UCD manager Collie O'Neill sent out something of a warning signal to the rest of the League on Friday night. His side beat Cabinteely 3-1 to go top of the table, but the Drogheda-native told SSE Airtricity League reporter Peter Branigan that his yo
UCD manager Collie O'Neill sent out something of a warning signal to the rest of the League on Friday night.
His side beat Cabinteely 3-1 to go top of the table, but the Drogheda-native told SSE Airtricity League reporter Peter Branigan that his young squad have to give him much more.
"We weren't at our best tonight. We have several more gears to go.
"Some of the lads weren't fully at it, and we won't have the luxury of underperforming and getting away with it too often in this division."
Goals from Georgie Kelly, Yoyo Mahdy, and Gary O'Neill were enough for The Students to avenge defeats in both the FAI Cup, and the last meeting between the pair in, 2017. But O'Neill maintained that his squad haven't yet shown their full potential this season.
"We weren't ruthless enough. That game could have been put to bed far sooner. The tempo dropped after both of our goals in the first-half, and that's simply not good enough.
"And it's not the first time it's happened this season either, so it's something we definitely need to work on."
The game had a certain edge to it. UCD's Paul Doyle, who was starting a game in the League for the first time, had to go off injured after a challenge from Marty Waters. Cabinteely had Karl Byrne sent off, and O'Neill maintained that his side's style of play had frustrated the visitors.
"Let me be clear, Marty did nothing wrong. It was purely accidental.
"It was feisty, but we kept our cool, and that was one very satisfying part of the night for me. We keep the ball, and that can be difficult to play against.
"Having said that, for all the possession we had, our chances were few and far between."
Cobh were College's bogey team in 2017, having won three of the four games between the clubs. The pair are set to meet on Friday, and O'Neill says he's looking forward to the challenge.
"Off to play against my buddy Hendo! (Stephen Henderson, Cobh manager) They certainly had the better of us last season, and we know it's going to be a tough game on Friday.
"It's a tight pitch, but we're looking forward to giving it a go."
