Opposition Watch: UCD

University College Dublin arrive to Limerick this week to contest the Airtricity League Promotion/Relegation Play-off semi-final first leg at the Markets Field. Treaty’s victory over Cabinteely in Dublin last week ensured a meeting with the College outfit who finished third in the division. Galway United and Bray Wanderers will face off in the other two legged affair before the winner of each game will face off for the chance to play the second last team in the Premier Division.

There is no doubting that it has been an exciting campaign with so many play-off places available which created a competitive environment in the league right up until the second last week when Athlone’s draw with Treaty signaled the end of the Midlanders challenge.

The other trio of sides would have expected to be in contention for the league title, never mind a play-off place whereas Tommy Barrett’s side were the real surprise package in the team’s first year in existence. This will surely make them a dangerous opponent in the play-off series.

However, UCD will certainly be a formidable opponent for any side in the play-off series and boast the highest goal scoring record in the regular season with 55 goals scored. Irish u-21 duo Colm Whelan and Liam Kerrigan have been particularly prominent with the former leading the goal scoring charts in the division with 18 goals, 4 more than the nearest challenger Ryan Brennan. Playmaker Kerrigan is just five goals further back with 13 goals to his name.

Furthermore, many of UCD’s players lead the list for assists in the league. Kerrigan is once again to the fore with four assists and Treaty already know all about his talent as he scored one and set-up one in the recent meeting between the sides. He is joined by Whelan, Paul Doyle, Donal Higgins and Sean Brennan in the top section which is more evidence of the attacking prowess in the ranks.

The Dublin side are difficult to track with clever movement throughout the team but particularly from Whelan and Sean Brennan while fellow midfielder Jack Keaney recycles possession extremely well. UCD are also a threat from set-pieces with the likes of Sam Todd and Harvey O’Brien attacking the ball very well which is another facet of the attack which Treaty must be wary of.

One area of weakness for the visitors is their leaky defence. In comparison with the other top sides in the division, they have conceded at least seven more goals, the closest to them being Bray in 5th with 31 goals conceded. In recent games, they have switched to a back four with O’Brien and Todd playing in the centre and Evan Farrell and Evan Osam as right and left-back respectively. Myler had been employing a 3-5-2 system for the majority of the campaign.

Sporting Limerick soccer analyst Jason O’Connor was part of a Limerick FC side who lost out to UCD in a two legged play-off tie in 1998 and he is worried about the firepower that Andy Myler’s side possess and feels Treaty need to be brave in pressurising UCD.

“UCD are capable of scoring lots of goals and the stats are there to prove it. Treaty did have success against UCD earlier in the season but on that occasion the Students played with three centre-backs and that was not the case two weeks ago when Treaty lost.

If UCD play a flat-back four on Wednesday it will be hard for Treaty to exploit them. The biggest questions are where, when and how Treaty press UCD? For me it has to be a little bot higher up than it was two weeks ago. The nearest player to the man has got to press and it has to be aggressive. If you allow the likes of Sean Brennan time and space on the ball, he will hurt you.”

Fellow analyst and former Limerick FC manager Noel O’Connor believes Treaty must drop deeper and be mindful of UCD’s attack.

“The personnel at UCD has changed over the years but the style hasn’t. They have very good technical players and they like to keep possession. It is a big ask for your full-backs, if you push UCD into the wide areas as they have to be able to defend in a 1v1 situation. Certainly in my opinion, Treaty need to drop off and fill the spaces and make it difficult for UCD. UCD do keep possession but for Treaty there is nothing wrong with that as long as they fill the spaces in their own half.”

Previous Meetings: There have been three previous meetings between the sides in the regular season. In the opening encounter at the Belfield Bowl, Treaty raced into a 2 goal lead through a Sean McSweeney penalty and a spectacular long range strike from Kieran Hanlon. However, just before half-time Dara Keane scored for the home side and two quickfire goals from Sean Brennan and Harvey O’Brien in the second period gave the Students a 3-2 victory.

At the Markets Field, Treaty dished out their retribution with a 2-1 victory. Jack Lynch gave Barrett’s charges the lead before Colm Whelan equalised from the penalty spot. Lynch doubled his tally to gain all three points for the Limerick side.

Just a fortnight ago, the sides met in what was ultimately a dress rehearsal for the play-offs. Treaty made a few changes on the night and Dean George grabbed his first goal for the club to equalise after Liam Kerrigan had opened the scoring. A second half Anthony O’Donnell own goal gave Myler’s side a second win over Treaty at home.