Derry City 0-0 UCD

Derry City played out a fairly lacklustre affair at the Brandywell on Friday night that saw UCD claim an away point in a game where clear scoring opportunities were few and far between. Martin Russell will no doubt be the happier of the two managers as Derry dominated possession but showed very little in the final third of the field.

The first half started brightly enough as both sides had half chances to open the scoring. In the third minute Cillian Morrison wriggled through the Derry rearguard but Gerard Doherty spread himself well to parry for a corner. Three minutes later Patrick McEleney sent Simon Madden down the wing but his excellent cross was cleared.

In the 11th minute the visitors should have opened the scoring when a lovely one-two between Mark Langtry and Robbie Benson put Langtry clean through, but Doherty again came to the rescue with a marvellous stop.

The half then settled into a midfield battle with Derry dominating possession but the students dealt with anything thrown at them easily enough. Michael Leahy picked up an injury in the 33rd minute and was forced off with Gary Burke replacing him.

The half was seen out tamely with the only excitement being some skills shown by Patrick McEleney, albeit in an area where there was no great threat.

You would have expected the home side to have come out with a bit more urgency in the second half but the game settled into a similar pattern to the first, with neither side seemingly willing to take the bull by the horns.

Indeed it was the 64th minute before the first meaningful attempt on goal saw Patrick McEleney have his curling shot brilliantly saved by Mark McGinley. Derry were again dominating the proceedings but their lack of urgency in the final third will be a real concern for Declan Devine and Paul Hegarty.

Owen Morrison replaced a clearly irate Rory Patterson in the 75th minute but there was only to be another couple of chances for Mark Farren and a great Daniel Ledwith free kick, tipped over by Doherty, to get any juices flowing amongst the crowd.

In the 90th minute a big appeal for a penalty went up as Farren went over in the UCD box, but Derek Tomney remained unmoved and the match petered out into a draw.

Martin Russell will be pleased with the discipline his young side showed in keeping a clean sheet but Declan Devine will be worried that his attackers were so easily dealt with. A draw  was certainly a fair result on the night.

Derry City: Gerard Doherty; Simon Madden, Eddie McCallion, Ryan McBride, Dermot McCaffrey (David McDaid 84); Patrick McEleney, Kevin Deery (c), Ruaidhri Higgins (Brian McGroary 86), Stephen McLaughlin; Mark Farren, Rory Patterson (Owen Morrison 75).
Subs not used: Eugene Ferry, Michael Barr, Caomhinn Bonner, Matthew Crossan.

Bookings: McBride (76).

UCD: Mark McGinley; Hugh Douglas, David O'Connor, Michael Leahy (Gary Burke 33), Ciaran Nangle; Paul O'Conor, Mark Langtry, Robert Benson, Daniel Ledwith; Cillian Morrison, Graham Rusk (Chris Lyons 67).
Subs not used: Niall Corbet, Barry McCabe, Dean Clarke, Samir Belhout, Stephen Doyle.

Bookings: Ledwith (87).

Referee: Derek Tomney.

Attendance: 1,500 (estimate).

extratime.ie Man of the Match: Hugh Douglas.