Matchday Correspondent, Aaron Davoren, covers UCD’s game against Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds in the latest edition of The Full Time Whistle
SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division Gameweek Five
Bray Wanderers 2-1 UCD AFC, 13 March 2026
Carlisle Grounds
Attendance : 1,015
Referee: Daryl Carolan
UCD and Bray Wanderers have struck up somewhat of a rivalry in recent years, after facing each other consecutively in the LOI First Division playoffs in the last two seasons. UCD manager, Wille O’Connor, admitted in an interview before the game that the Seagulls have got the “better of them” in the last two playoffs and that they “got to fix it”. Unfortunately for the students, it was yet another disappointing night in the Carlisle Grounds as the home side edged to a 2-1 win on a crisp March night by the seaside.
The first half outlined UCD’s tactical setup, which was to build up initially from the two centre-backs and find the two wingers out wide to cause a threat to Bray’s backline. Whilst the composed build-up threatened Bray initially, it was the detriment of their downfall in conceding the opening goal as Niall Holohan played a sloppy ball to his keeper, which gave Ben McCormack an opportunity to pounce. Although a gift from the students' defense, McCormack still had a lot to do, using a fake shot to decoy Dara Kavanagh in goal, and find himself an empty net to take the lead inside 18 minutes.
Despite this setback, UCD still managed to stick to their game plan, averaging 61 % possession throughout the game, holding out a solid first-half performance.
It was Bray Wanderers who started creating goal opportunities in the second half, threatening with chances from corners and neat build-up, despite not doing much to test Dara Kavanagh in goal.
UCD’s equaliser in the 72nd minute was Bray’s turn to give a gift to the opposition, with Tyreik Sammy miss-kicking a clearance, which gave Mikey McCullagh the opportunity to cross the ball to the head of Hugh Smith, who gave hope for a comeback for the students.
Paul Heffernan opted for a triple substitution inside the hour mark, which gave the front four of the seagulls more threat, especially on the counter. This was perfectly displayed in the 79th minute when Tyreik Sammy was played through a one on one with Kavanagh in goal, who did brilliantly to make himself big and close the angle for the Bray winger.
It was two of the substitutes who combined to create Bray’s winner. Starting from a needle through ball from former UCD midfielder Sean Brennan, who played through the lightning quick Achara, who looked up and set up Ferizaj, sealing all three points to the seagulls in the 85 th minute.
While it was a tough result for the students, there was room for optimism with the performance.
The next opportunity to watch UCD AFC is when they take on Cobh Ramblers at the Bowl this Friday (27th March) where they’ll continue to push towards the top end of the league.