UCD 3-0 Cork City

UCD heaped more pressure on Tommy Dunne last night, as they continued their unbeaten streak against Cork City in the UCD Bowl by winning 3-0.

The Students shell shocked the visitors after just 35 seconds. Cork kicked off , and were immediately dispossessed, and UCD were away. Sean Russell broke down the left wing, and pulled it back across goal, where Robbie Creevy's shot was blocked by Darren Dennehy. Unfortunately for Cork fans, it fell to UCD's top scorer in Dave McMillan who had the simplest of tasks to finish into an empty net.

City were rocked, and could so easily have been 2-0 down on 11 minutes, when Russell's shot was cleared off the goal line by Dennehy. It was a wake-up call for the Rebel Army. But they struggled to break down the UCD defence, Daryl Horgan creating their first real opportunity when he nodded straight at Mark McGinley with 23 minutes played. It was promising for the Leesiders, who were starting to get into a flow. Shane Duggan volleyed over from the edge of the box, and should've done better with a similar effort minutes later. Johnny Dunleavy then fluffed a glorious chance to equalize just before halftime, when he headed wide from inside the 6 yard box.

8 minutes into the second half, and after a cagey start, McMillan struck again. Duggan lost out in the air to Robbie Benson, and the ball dropped for McMillan. Given a lot of time and space, and with no real pressure being applied, he thumped it goalwards, and watched as it dipped over Mark McNulty and into the top corner, sending the UCD ultras delirious.

It knocked the stuffing out of the away side, who never really recovered after it. Gearóid Morrissey cut inside Gareth Matthews twice, only to shoot wide on both occasions, and Danny Murphy linked up with Daryl Kavanagh for the former to unleash a shot, only for McGinley to parry. UCD on the other hand, were pushing forward. Sub Samir Belhout and Benson both had shots which went narrowly over, and UCD would get the goal they were looking for with 20 minutes to play.

Belhout's corner went to the far post, where an unmarked Hugh Douglas was able to power a header into the net, despite the best efforts of McNulty, who got a hand to it.

Martin Russell knew the job was done, and UCD sat back, while Cork were demoralised. Neither side had any noteworthy chances after that, apart from Belhout linking with Barry McCabe to shoot wide.

Adriano Reale brought the game to a close, and the Cork City fans were displeased with both team and management. They are well aware that with the visit of the champions next week, they could so easily be dragged into the relegation dogfight. For UCD, it was a promising result, and their 6 year unbeaten streak at home to Cork City rolls on.

Attendance : 170

On The Sidelines' Man Of The Match: Hugh Douglas (UCD)
The defender had Daryl Kavanagh in his pocket all night long, and capped off a good performance with a fine goal.