UCD 3
St Patrick’s Athletic 1
Dave Donnelly reports from the UCD Bowl
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC were booed off the pitch and manager Harry Kenny endured chants of ‘we want Kenny out’ as they were knocked out of the FAI Cup by UCD.
A Yoyo Mahdy header and a double from Liam Kerrigan condemned the Saints to a humiliating defeat against a side who lost by a league-record 10-1 scoreline just a week previously.
Conor Clifford restored some pride for the Athletic with a late strike, while Jack Keaney was sent off in the final minute as UCD finished a turbulent week on a high.
New manager Maciej Tarnogrodzki, promoted from the U19s this week following the sacking of Collie O’Neill, made five changes to the side from that dismal outing last week.
One of them was Mahdy and the striker showed his value with a superbly taken opener after 21 minutes.
Jason McClelland had done brilliantly to win a corner on the left and took it himself, and top scorer Mahdy hung high in the air before burying his header.
It was the first chance of note for the Students but, incredibly, they doubled their advantage six minutes later.
McClelland was again the architect, his fine through-ball controlled by Kerrigan before he rolled the ball calmly into the corner of Brendan Clarke’s net.
Ronan Hale should have pulled one back late in the half as he seized on a rare error from Liam Scales but, with just Gavin Sheridan to beat, he put his shot wide.
Kerrigan showed him how it was done 50 seconds into the second half when an error from Ciaran Kelly allowed him a chance to shoot and he sent a rocket past a helpless Clarke.
UCD had more chances, with Keaney driving inches past the top corner from 40 yards, while McClelland should have made it 4-0 from close range, but he skied his effort.
Clifford buried a shot late on and a comeback looked on the cards when Glen McAuley’s shot arrowed towards the bottom corner, but Sheridan got down low to save and the Saints wilted.
UCD: Sheridan; Tobin, Scales, Boore, Farrell; Keaney, Keane, O’Farrell; McClelland (McEvoy 90+2), Kerrigan (Byrne 77), Mahdy.
St Patrick’s Athletic: B Clarke; Webster, Desmond, Kelly, Bermingham (Toner 52); Clifford, Coleman (Shaw 64), Markey; D Clarke, McAuley, Hale (Walker 52).
Referee: Graham Kelly (Cork).
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