Congratulations to Josh Collins, Andy O'Reilly, Shane Whelan, Maxi Kouogun, Darragh Mc Conville, Troy Carey and Gareth Coghlin and of course their former coach at Cherry Orchard FC now with UCD U19's Allistair Harvey on winning the Enda Mc Guill Airtricity Cup Final against Derry City this evening in the UCD Bowl.
A costly mistake from Derry City goalkeeper Michael Lynch and goals either side of halftime from Gareth Coughlan and Jessie Kamm gave UCD their first ever Enda McGuill Cup win.
A fifth minute strike from Daire O’Conchubair and goals from Gareth Coughlan and Jessie Kamm saw UCD edge out Derry City to lift the Enda McGuill Cup for the first time.
O’Conchubair grabbed the opener after dispossessing Michael Lynch inside his own box to give UCD an early reward for their strong start. The Derry keeper gifted the talented UCD forward with the easiest of finishes as the Irish schools striker stroked the ball home into an empty net.
O’Conchubhair proved to be a handful for Derry’s defence all night as the UCD forward’s blend of pace, dribbling and a keen eye for his teammates caused John Quigg’s side problems all night. The striker was at the heart of UCD’s second just five minutes before halftime, after setting up winger Gareth Coughlan with a low cross into the six-yard box which saw Coughlan bury the ball past a hapless Lynch from close range.
UCD dominated possession early on and had the better of the chances in what was a highly entertaining first half. Derry managed to get themselves back into the game in the second as City striker Ronan Curtis scored for the visitors just three minutes after the restart.
Curtis pounced after Skinner spilled the ball, with the Candystripes forward shooting into the roof of the net to close the gap to just the single goal. Unfortunately for the visitors substitute Kamm cancelled out Curtis’ goal just a couple of minutes later to extend UCD’s lead back out to two.
Kamm grabbed the Students' third after finding some space at the edge of the box as the substitute winger turned his defender and blasted a powerful right footed shot into the bottom left hand corner to seal the win.
Derry striker Georgie Kelly netted with a minute to go, but UCD were ultimately able to hang on to lift their first ever Enda McGuill Cup trophy..