O’Neill sinks 10-man City with a late, late winner

GARY O’NEILL scored from the spot with the last kick of the game as UCD completed a dramatic comeback win over Cork City in a tense clash in Belfield last night. Yoyo Mahdy equalised for the Students five minutes from time, taking advantage of a clanger from Mark McNulty after Sean McLoughlin had given City a first-half lead as the visitors took control of proceedings early on. Mahdy’s goal seemed set to guarantee a stalemate as just two minutes of stoppage time were announced, but then McLoughlin tripped O’Neill in the box to give away the penalty and allow the Students to win it with the last kick. The most entertaining moment of a poor first period came when the voice of the stadium announcer boomed around the ground requesting the presence of the Cork City team bus driver. That announcement elicited cheers and chants of ‘park the bus’ from the home fans, but they had little to cheer about shortly afterwards when City took the lead. Shane Griffin’s corner from the right found UCD keeper Conor Kearns flat-footed, and McLoughlin was in the perfect position to pounce and had the simple task of stabbing home from close range. That was about as good as it got for City, who spent almost the entire second half chasing shadows as the Students got to grips with a poor surface and dominated play. It took a rush of blood to the head from Comerford to gift them a route back in, however, as the midfielder earned a straight red for hacking down Neil Farrugia having already been booked. It was a reckless piece of indiscipline that saw momentum swing firmly in the home side’s favour. Mahdy then took full advantage of McNulty’s greasy fingers as the keeper fumbled his well-struck volley into his own net. And it got even better for the Students in injury time as McLoughlin stuck out a leg to bring down O’Neill, and the captain made no mistake from 12 yards.