UCD 1-2 Galway FC
RYAN MANNING SCORED in injury-time to complete a whirlwind Galway FC comeback and secure a 2-1 victory over UCD in the first-leg of the sides’ promotion/relegation play-off at the Belfield Bowl.
The winning goal followed just a minute after Paddy Barrett had popped up with an equaliser for the Tribesmen.
It was a bitter finale for the Students who had been in charge of the game ever since Timmy Molley scored the game’s opener on 18 minutes after some good work by Gary Burke.
Buoyed by two successive league wins, the hosts were in confident mood heading into this clash but the visitors began brightly and conjured a number of half-chances inside the opening ten minutes.
Despite being a goal behind at the break, Galway refused to give in and they were agonisingly close to a leveller with fifteen minutes left when Gary Shanahan’s header was pushed onto the bar by Conor O’Donnell.
Shortly after, Jake Keegan fired over when he seemed certain to score but the guests kept the momentum up and didn’t allow their poor finishing affect them.
With a minute to go, Barrett did find the net after getting on the end of Marc Ludden’s long-throw and within moments, Manning kept calm in the area to rifle home Galway’s second after a corner wasn’t properly cleared.
The teams will meet in the second-leg on Friday where Galway will look to build on the crucial advantage they built up this evening.
UCD: O’Donnell, Matthews, Langtry, Ryan, Douglas, Kavanagh, Crowe, Burke, Mulhall, Molloy, Cannon.
Galway FC: Gleeson, Horgan, Barrett, Walsh, Ludden, Sinnott(c), Connolly, Shanahan, Manning, Molloy, Keegan.
