Derry live to fight on as students drop out

Soccer National League: Former UCD midfielder Ciarán Martyn scored the goal that sent his old team crashing out of the eircom League Premier Division yesterday. The 1-0 victory it brought for Derry City at Waterford was also enough to keep the northerners in the hunt for top-flight survival and condemn the students to life in the First Division next year.

Pete Mahon's UCD side beat Longford 2-0 at Belfield, where goals from Tony McDonnell and Alan Cawley would have been enough to secure the Dubliners a place in the play-offs had City slipped up at the Regional Sports Centre.

But in the end neither the win, nor the strong run of form that had preceded it, counted for anything, and after twice surviving the play-offs in previous years and repeatedly digging themselves out of trouble, UCD were finally relegated.

"We were under a bit of pressure to win the game, because we had to if we were going to give ourselves any chance of survival," said Mahon. "Unfortunately, it was not to be.

"If you look at our form, well, since we came here 16 games ago we'd amassed 24 points from 48. When we came here we had 12 points from 20, that's when the damage was done - the early part of the season."

Mahon said everyone at the club would take a little time out to "regroup" and assess the situation. Then, he said, it will be "upwards and onwards from here.

"I don't see any reason why we can't bounce back from this. I certainly feel very positive. Sometimes it takes a situation like this to see what kind of a person you are."

He said he hoped to preserve as much of the squad as possible for next year's campaign. "I would certainly hope the bulk of the team would remain here. It's only the end of our stay in the premier league and we're going to do all we can to get back up into the premier league straight away."

He admitted to some surprise with the way Derry, who beat Bohemians on Tuesday and then Waterford yesterday to survive, had managed to avoid the immediate drop.

"It's ironic that Derry, in fairness to them, hadn't won a game since June and they win the last two. We played them here earlier and beat them 2-0. I thought they were dead and buried."

City, meanwhile, will travel to Limerick on Wednesday night for the first leg of their play-off semi-final after Martyn's goal proved enough to keep his side ninth in the Premier Division, and a Paul Finnucane strike for First Division Limerick City earned them the draw they required from their game with Kildare County to secure fourth place.

"I am absolutely delighted and thrilled," said Derry manager Gavin Dykes. "The team today was disciplined and kept their shape until the end. Derry City is a Premier Division club and it would have been disastrous for the players, the board and, most importantly of all, the fans if we had been relegated today.

"I always said we would stay up," he added, "and we took seven out of the last nine points. We are not out of the woods yet, because Limerick will put up a really tough battle. But I remain confident Derry City will not be relegated."

UCD's relegation will be popular with many of their rivals, as the club have repeatedly been criticised over their inability to attract any sort of substantial support to games. But there may be some disappointment among the league's big names that the club's place in the Premier Division will be taken by Dublin City, a team which, thanks to the remarkable perseverance of its main administrator Ronan Seery, overcome a similar handicap.

Dublin City finally won promotion thanks to a goal from another graduate of Belfield. Mick O'Byrne's strike gave John Gill's side the point they required from Saturday top-of-the-table clash with Bray Wanderers to take the First Division title and the automatic promotion slot.

O'Byrne's goal came from a penalty in the 28th minute when referee Anthony Buttimer awarded a hotly-contested spot kick after deciding Wesley Byrne had taken the legs from under Robbie Farrell inside the area.

Wanderers, needing to win in order to be sure of going up themselves, battled back and dominated long stretches of the second half. But it took until the 89th minute for Graham O'Hanlon to find the net for the visitors, after which City held on through injury time for the point.

Pat Devlin's side must now take on Finn Harps in the other play-off semi-final, with the winners meeting over two legs on Wednesday and Saturday week to decide who will complete next season's Premier Division line-up.

Champions: Shelbourne (Champions League)

Runners-up: Bohemians (UEFA Cup)

Third: Cork City (Inter-Toto Cup)

FAI Cup winners: Longford Town (UEFA Cup)

Relegated from Premier Division: UCD

Promoted from First Division: Dublin City

PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINALS

Wednesday, December 3rd:

Finn Harps v Bray Wanderers (8.0), Limerick v Derry City (2.0)

Saturday December 6th:

Bray Wanderers v Finn Harps (7.45)

Derry City v Limerick (7.30).

The play-off final will be over two legs, on Wednesday, December 10th, and Saturday, December 13th.