UCD MANAGER COLLIE O’Neill forecasted a bright future for Liam Scales after the central defender helped his side to get off the mark in their 2019 SSE Airtricity League Premier Division campaign.
A superb run by Scales set up Conor Davis to equalise for the Students on the hour-mark in Friday night’s 1-1 draw with St Patrick’s Athletic. Mikey Drennan had given the visitors a 28th-minute lead with his third goal of the season.
“Scales was just brilliant for it,” said O’Neill. “It was nearly one of them where you’re thinking, ‘what the bloody hell are you doing up there?’
“I was nearly having a heart attack seeing a centre-half on the edge of their box. In fairness to him, it was a great bit of skill and a great little poacher’s goal by Conor.”
Scales was a key player for UCD as they won the First Division title last season. The 20-year-old has also reportedly attracted the interest of Premier Division champions Dundalk.
A former Arklow Town player, Scales played for Stephen Kenny’s home-based Republic of Ireland U21 side in last month’s friendly against an Irish amateur team.
Having already lost Greg Sloggett (Derry City) and Dáire O’Connor (Cork City) from his squad since the conclusion of the 2018 season, Collie O’Neill knows it will be challenging to retain a player of the calibre of Liam Scales.
”He’s vital,” the UCD boss said. “He’s a top-class player and he will go and win league titles with other clubs. But at this moment in time we’re fortunate to have him.”
After defeats to Derry City, Bohemians and Dundalk, the draw against Pat’s gave UCD their first point of the season. O’Neill — who takes his side to Sligo Rovers on Saturday — hopes the result can act as a springboard for his young squad.
He said: “I was getting a little bit tired of kind of having moral victories where the performances were good but we didn’t have anything to show for it. It’s nice to have something to show for it.
“This was a really big game for us. If we had lost it and had nothing to show for it, it’s hard to constantly try to pick the players up every week. It’s nice for the players to have some rewards for their efforts.
“They’ll take confidence from that and we’ll continue to grow as the games come along.”
– Additional reporting by Dave Donnelly
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