Dundalk beat the students of UCD by 3 goals to 1 tonight to take all 3 points from a match that was all about the football. In a rare meeting between 2 honest footballing sides, the emphasis was all on the performances. Dundalk took a 2 goal lead in the 3 minutes before half time, scorers Ross Gaynor and Daniel Kearns. As in previous games, the lilywhites created plenty of chances but couldn't seem to pity them away.
In the second half, a dubious decision gave UCD the chance to pull one back through a well taken Paul Corry free kick that gave Peter Cherrie no chance. Fears of a repeat of last Friday's disappointment in Richmond Park echoed around the ground, but it was clear that this was a different performance entirely from the home side. Perhaps there was a lesson learned in Inchicore, but I'm more inclined to believe that last week was the glitch and that tonight is a sign of things to come from Ian Foster's men.
More good news surfaced doughty with the update on Stephen Maher's injury, with advice for the midfielder that he will not require surgery for his groin injury. Best wishes go to Stephen, along with Eoghan Osborne, who is recovering from a broken leg, Dean Bennett and Greg Bolger. Hopefully the injury list will shorten over the coming weeks, but in the meantime if we can build on tonight's result and recent performances then things will look brighter at Oriel Park.
