The losses continue to stack up for Dublin University Association Football Club (DUAFC) in the Colleges and Universities Football League. The team’s most recent outing, a 4–0 defeat at the hands of old rivals University College Dublin (UCD) in Clontarf on Tuesday, showed clearly the gulf in standard between the team’s regular league opposition in Division 1B of the Leinster Senior League (LSL) and the other universities they face in the CUFL.
DUAFC did not enjoy an ideal start on Tuesday, with an injury to first choice keeper Devin Connolly perhaps providing a foreboding indicator of things to come. Trinity set up defensively from the outset, aiming to play a compact game and hit UCD on the break. However, the Belfield side managed to take advantage of this style of play, dominating most of the possession and creating the lion’s share of opportunities on the day.
While Trinity was successful in limiting the chances their opponents got on goal, UCD was clinical in capitalising on any opportunity that was given. The team got off the mark with a scrappy goal following a corner midway through the first half, scoring from a weakly-hit effort that deflected off a Trinity defender.
UCD added another before the break, with one striker capitalising on a sloppy pass and slotting home into the far corner of the Trinity net. The second half failed to provide any relief for DUAFC, with costly errors continuing to impact on the scoreline as UCD seized on Trinity’s mistakes to fire two more home, consigning Trinity to its third defeat in a row at inter-collegiate level.
Speaking to The University Times over email, club captain Robbie Gaul was quick to note that, despite the result, the team’s performance was better than in recent outings. Nevertheless, a combination of UCD’s attacking strength and the failure of DUAFC’s counter-attacking game to materialise meant that Trinity was well and truly up against it for the full 90 minutes. However, it was ultimately the momentary lapses of concentration that drove the nail into the coffin for DUAFC, something that will need to improve if the team is to replicate its Leinster Senior League form in this competition. DUAFC currently occupy bottom spot, with their chances of qualifying looking increasingly remote.
