UCD fail to get to grips with Kilkenny

SINCE winning the Cup themselves back in 1984, UCD have had reason on more than one occasion to point to their high turnover of players as justification for some of their more premature exits in the competition. This side, though, has been together for several years. now and while the Kilkenny squad that came visiting yesterday included just one member of their bottom-dollar panel from last season, it was the students who looked to be suffering from that old first day in the Arts Block syndrome.

City manager Alfie Hale said afterwards that he knew UCD's form was good but their results weren't and that if his men did everything they were told, they had every chance of coming out on top.

By the looks of things they followed the gameplan alright, because no matter how much possession they conceded to their hosts in the centre of the park, they never looked like a side who thought they were going to be beaten. On the break they repeatedly looked dangerous especially when Aidan Cooney, at 23 the one Buckley Park old timer in the side, became drawn into the action.

There were, admittedly, scares in front of Ashley Stephenson's goal where Brendan Rea and Paul Devereux repeatedly struggled to clear a slippery ball but Mick O'Byrne and Robert Griffin rarely looked likely to capitalise on their opponents' difficulties while Stephenson, when called upon to prove it, showed himself to possess a safe pair of hands.

By half-time the locals must have been disappointed not to lead with Ciaran Kavanagh, Jody Lynch and Jonathan Treacy all having had chances to put their side in front but not one drew a save worthy of the name from Stephenson.

Then, before UCD had really got to grips with the task facing them in the second period, disaster struck. Brian Arrigan, after a darting run down the right flank in the 49th minute, appeared to aim for straight sixes from the judges and was rewarded instead with a spot kick which he happily slotted away into the bottom right-hand corner himself.

They certainly took the first step with Terry Palmer equalising through a far-post header off a James Keddy cross 12 minutes later but after that their composure deserted them. Kilkenny's pressure created the space for Cooney to calmly sidefoot the visitors' second goal in the 71st minute, before O'Byrne, Terry Palmer and Ciaran Kavanagh all passed up chances to earn the hosts a chance to repeat the test at Buckley Park.