Unlucky United Denied at the Death

An 85th minute goal deprived UCC United of a share of the spoils against league leaders, Freescale, at the Farm on Saturday afternoon. Defences were on top during a competitive first half in which very few clear-cut chances were produced. The notable exception was a 15th minute penalty which was awarded to Freescale after Liam Weeks was harshly adjudged to have handled in the area. The resultant spot kick flew wide and UCC breathed a collective sigh of relief.

If UCC had generally controlled the opening period, Freescale dictated the first twenty-five minutes of the second half. However, despite enjoying the majority of possession they struggled to break down the home defence, superbly marshalled by Steve O’Brien. UCC came back into the game for the last quarter and carved out three opportunities to score. The first was when Will Pierce was felled in the area but the referee failed to award what looked a stonewall penalty. Then Dave O’Sullivan played Dave Burke through with a beautiful pass. Burke took the ball wide of the advancing goalkeeper but his touch was heavy and even though he was able to square the ball for Pierce to net, the referee judged that the ball had already crossed the end line before being dragged back. With ten minutes to go, UCC’s best chance came. Dan Kiely expertly floated in a right wing free-kick which landed at the feet of Eric Moore six yards from goal. Moore struck his left-footed shot cleanly but, unfortunately, it flew over the bar. The college team then paid the ultimate price with five minutes on the clock. A speculative ball forward saw a Freescale striker get the better of Steve O’Brien, round the goalkeeper and fire into the unguarded net. UCC threw men forward over the closing minutes but were unable to find a way through the Freescale defence.

For the second match in-a-row, all of the UC United team played their part and worked exceptionally hard. The defence was solid throughout, the midfield was compact and the front two held the ball up well and constantly worried the visitor’s defence. The harsh fact remains however that UCC have only scored in two out of five league games this season and have yet to hit the back of the net in the Farm.

Groeger, Kiely, Quinlivan, O’Brien, Gibbs (Nwokonye), Darby (Burke), O’Sullivan, Weeks, O’Donovan, Walmsley, Pierce (Moore)