Bohemians 3
UCD 0
IT TOOK 35 minutes for the first goal of the Airtricity League but the punters who graced the UCD Bowl got their moneys’ worth with a wonder strike.
Striker Paddy Kavanagh danced gracefully past two defenders into the box to curl a wonderful goal in the bottom corner to leave UCD goalkeeper Conor O’Donnell with no chance.
His strike partner, Dinny Corcoran, not wanting to be outdone, turned in an equally wonderful goal with a strike on the hour mark, at the RTÉ end of Belfield, to leave the fans jubilant. Having pulled Ian Ryan one way and then the next, Corcoran curled the ball past O’Donnell who could only watch helplessly.
UCD started brightly with Michael Barker causing havoc in the Bohemians defence with a delightful cross to force Roberto Lopes to concede a corner. It took 11 minutes for Bohemians to create a meaningful opening with Kavanagh sending a shot whizzing past UCD’s goal early on.
The midfielder’s shot was an omen for things to come as just after the half hour mark he pounced. A long ball over the home defence allowed Kavanagh to pick up the ball. He duly delivered with a superb curling strike into the left hand corner.
After the break, and to their credit, the Students put the Bohemians defence under massive pressure. Their best chance of the half fell to striker Dean Clarke who — after wonderful work on the left hand side by Ben Mohammed and Matthews — found himself in front of goal but couldn’t get a decent connection.
Substitute Jason Byrne wrapped up proceedings for the Gypsies coming into injury time. Steven Beattie hit a wonderful shot to sting the fingers of O’Donnell but veteran striker Byrne pounced on the rebound to head home.
UCD: O’Donnell, Barker, Matthews, Ryan, Boyle, Kavanagh (Morrison, 78), Creevy, Benson (c), Mulhall, Clarke, Ben Mohammed (Belhout, 61).Substitutes: Douglas, Burke, Wilson, Scott, McGinley.Bohemians: Delaney, Pender, Memery, Lopes, Mulcahy (McEvoy, 57), Price, Corcoran (Byrne, 85), Kavanagh, Moore (Buckley, 76), Beattie, Walsh.Substitutes: Traynor, Devaney, McCabe, Murphy.
Referee: Robert Harvey