Shamrock Rovers 1-1 UCD AFC, Fri 19th July 2013 Saturday, 20 July 2013 17:34

UCD AFC matched Shamrock Rovers stride for stride to earn a 1-1 draw in Tallaght Stadium.

Airtrcity League Premier Division Friday 19th July 2013 Tallaght Stadium

Shamrock Rovers 1-1 UCD AFC Zayed 24' Benson 65'

Josh Dolan

It was a quiet and sloppy start as Tallaght. First Derek Foran gave the ball away to Robbie Benson but the midfielder couldn't find Dean Clarke with a weak through ball. Just after that broke down the right without a challenge but Mark McGinley was fouled during the delivery.

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There wasn't much to shout about in the first 10 minutes. Shamrock Rovers passed the ball well but nothing was happening in the final third. Mark McGinley seemed to struggle in the first half as he failed to catch crosses on a number of occasions but referee Paul McLaughlin continued to blow up for soft fouls on the student's shot stopper.

The first real chance came after 19 minutes as Craig Walsh made a surging run from midfield before unleashing a curling shot from 20 yards that curled narrowly wide of the hoop's goal.

The Student's went one down after 24 minutes as Conor Powell's cross found Rice whose shot was fortunately deflected into the path of Zayed who slotted the ball into Mark McGinley's bottom right hand corner to make it 1-0 to Shamrock Rovers.

It wasn't till 10 minutes after that there was another chance as Sean Russell gave the ball away to Stephen Rice but the hoop's midfielder shot well wide. There was some decent football played in the first half particularly by Shamrock Rovers, in particular when Sean O'Connor and Thomas Stewart combined but when it came to the final ball Stewart crossed the ball straight into the arms of McGinley.

Stewart regularly caused problems for UCD's right back Gareth Matthews and after 38 minutes Stewart attempted to deliver a cross into the box but the cross came off Matthews and went out for a corner, the resulting delivery found the unmarked Ken Oman but he headed well wide of McGinley's left hand post. The student's nearly went 2 down as Rice's shot deflected off Hugh Douglas into the path of former student Ronan Finn who shot just wide of McGinley's goal.

Shamrock Rovers were getting a lot of joy from set pieces, this time it was O'Connor with a corner that found Chambers on the edge of the 6 yard box. Shamrock Rovers were beginning to dominate in the closing stages of the first half, Rice found space just outside the UCD box before skipping past Douglas however Rice shot well wide.

The Student's began the second half with a 3-5-2 formation and this seemed to work for the Blues as UCD were able to keep possession in midfield while the wing backs were able to

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trouble the rovers back 4 with some quality crosses. The student's had a chance to equalise on the hour mark as Craig Walsh picked up a loose ball in his own half before travelling the guts of 20 yards and firing just over Richard Brush's cross bar.

Sean O'Connor's corners were a threat all night and after 63 minutes he found Oman in the box but the towering centre half volleyed into McGinley's arms.

The Student's equalised after 65 minutes as Dean Clarke broke down the right wing before crossing for Robbie Benson who headed past Richard Brush to make it 1-1.

Rovers came close to taking lead on 68 minutes as Thomas Stewart broke down the left before firing just wide of McGinley's goal. Rovers looked shaky in the second half, Robbie Benson forced the Rovers rear guard into mistakes several times in the second half.

Both sides went for the win and UCD were caught on the break a couple of times as Sheppard caused trouble on the left but the quality in the final third was lacking.

The Students were on the ropes late on as Mark McGinley was called on several times to pull off some impressive reflex saves to ensure a point made its way back to Belfield.

Shamrock Rovers: Richard Brush, Patrick Sullivan (C), Derek Foran, Ken Oman, Conor Powell, Stephen Rice, James Chambers (McCormack HT), Ronan Finn, Sean O'Connor, Eamon Zayed

Subs: Shane Fagan, Conor McCormack, Daniel Ledwith, Jason McGuinness, Shane Robinson, Gary McCabe, Karl Sheppard Booked: Finn

UCD AFC: Mark McGinley, Gareth Matthews, David O'Connor (C), Hugh Douglas, Mark

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Langtry, Craig walsh, Robbie Creevy, James Kavanagh, Robbie Benson, Dean Clarke, Sean Russell

Subs: Conor O'Donnell, Barry McCabe,Samir Belhout, Tyrone McNelis, Thomas O'Halloran, Gary Burke, Ayman Ben Mohamed

Referee: Paul McLaughlin

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