Devlin Left Frustrated by Slow Start

Cabinteely boss Pat Devlin was left to rue a nervy first-half performance as his side slumped to an opening day defeat against UCD. 
The Students scored the only goal of the game in the first-half, through Simon Power's well-taken finish, but the hosts were far better in the second-half. And they could have rescued a point, only for Conor O'Donnell to save Joe Doyle's chance in 91st minute.

"It was a very disappointing first-half. The second-half performance I was pleased with. We could have got a result with Joe Doyle's chance."

The hosts might have been level before that. Evan Galvin was played through early in the second-half, but his effort, from a tight angle inside the box, went just wide to the left of the College goal.

Galvin made O'Donnell work in the seventy-eight minute as he shot from the edge of the box. The UCD shot stopper made the save. In between Galvin's two chances, Kevin Knight headed a cross over from five yards, under huge pressure from UCD's central defence.

But the performance in the second-half gives Devlin hope. "We shook things up a little bit (at half-time), and had a word with them, and credit to them, they came out a different team. We tried a few different things, and we created a few chances."

Devlin says the result doesn't change the ambition he has for the team. He wants to "win the league. It was a bit start, but we'll only get better. It means Waterford is a big game for us now."
This was published on the League of Ireland website.

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