O'Neill Praises the Youth

UCD boss Collie O'Neill was full of praise for his younger players after they secured an opening night win over Cabinteely at Stradbrook.

In a game where eight players, six from the start and two off the bench, made their League of Ireland debuts for College, Simon Power's first-half goal would prove to be the difference between the Southside rivals.

"We had five players in that starting eleven tonight who are still in school. Boy, did they play with their hearts on their sleeves tonight."

And O'Neill says the performance was up there with the most satisfying of his reign with the club, even comparing it to their win over Dudelange in 2015. "I'm prouder tonight than what I was when we won the Europa League game."

But O'Neill also commended some of his more experienced players. "Maxi (Kouogun) stuck his chest out and he grabbed everyone else around him, and he dragged them through it."

Despite the result though, the UCD boss was quick to downplay any talk of promotion. "I still don't think we'll be in the shake-up at the end. Over the course of the season, we'll probably drop too many points where it comes down to a lack of experience."

This was published on the League of Ireland website.