Collie O'Neill pleased with impact from new signings

Andrew Dempsey reports from the UCD Bowl

UCD boss Collie O’Neill noted his delight on how his new signings have brought a new life to his side ahead of the closing stages of the Students 2019 campaign.

O’Neill spoke to extratime.ie after his side’s three goal win over Letterkenny Rovers in the FAI Cup on Sunday afternoon – praising Liam Kerrigan after a fine display against the Ulster Senior League side.

“Liam has been brilliant since he has come in. He has been very effective in all of our games so far. He is a real top class talent and he’s one that I suppose other clubs will be knocking on the door for him pretty soon.

“He has been really bright with Jack Keaney and Sam Byrne coming in. They have all added an extra bit of energy to the place since they’ve come in. It’s been good so far.”

However, the Drogheda native also revealed his frustration having conceded two ‘soft’ goals; “I suppose I can’t complain.

“The only thing I can complain about is that I thought we were too soft for the goals. It has to stop at some stage because I’m just not accepting it anymore.

“We could have been in big trouble over it but performance wise, we probably had 90% of the ball – we created several chances – so overall, job done but they’re tough games to play in.

“Mentally, they’re tough because you might go into the game thinking it’s going to be easier than your normal game and you don’t do things correctly and you can find yourself being punished far too easily.

“For what we worked during the week we didn’t get that in the first half. We were too slow, particularly in the final third when we were attacking, and we spoke about that at half time.

“We slowed things down too much with the extra touch and pass. We didn’t penetrate quickly enough but it’s nice to see they listened to what I had said and took it on board for the second half.”