Campbell stuns UCL with late equaliser

The famous Home Farm club was the venue for the Meath & District League's latest adventure into representative soccer on Tuesday evening of last week in the Oscar Traynor Trophy as Paul Campbell's late strike earned them a draw against a strong United Churches League. The neat, compact ground provided the stage for the players from the MDL to showcase their talents against the best from the United Churches League had to offer and at the end of 90 minutes of a hectic, sometimes madcap encounter, both sides had to be content with a point. There are those who feel that the MDL would be better off not participating in this competition yet they level of performance the MDL produced, particularly in the second-half, indicated that they have as Franklin D Roosevelt once said about other matters “nothing to fear but fear itself.†This was a game that the MDL could easily have lost yet they will also look back and think that with a little more luck and a little better preparation they could also have won. They trailed 0-2 at the interval before getting an equaliser through an own goal from UCL's Anthony Dunne who diverted to his own net on the hour mark. Then in the closing stages the MDL grabbed a deserved equaliser when Trim Celtic's Campbell won possession about 25 metres out and let fly. The ball took a vicious deflection before flying into the net for a spectacular equaliser. Campbell had just arrived as a substitute and it didn't take him long to make a decisive intervention. The MDL management of Paddy O'Reilly and his player/assistant Graham Conway will also look back on the goals their team conceded in a lacklusture opening half display, and feel they could easily have been prevented. The game was only eight minutes old when UCL took the lead with a strike that had a comic touch about it. The Dublin side moved the ball down the right, Dunne whipped over a cross and there was MDL right-back David Hoey in the wrong place at the wrong time to divert the ball into his own net. It got worse for the visitors. Just four minutes before the interval UCL's Alan Fay despatched a hit and hope effort from long range. MDL's netminder Barry O'Callaghan looked to have it covered. Then the gremlins intervened and somehow the ball spun out of his grasp and trickled into the net. It was hardly surprising that the MDL took some time to get into this match. They didn't have a warm up game and some of the players met up for the first time on Tuesday night. It was far from ideal yet manager O'Reilly deserves credit for completely re-adjusting his troops for the second-half. The back four was re-jigged, the team went from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 and were much better as a result. Both sides could have added to their account. UCL's Fay diverted the ball against his own post at one stage, MDL's Barry Woods also had an effort rebound off the woodwork and Brendan Kerley headed inches wide - and that was just in the first half. Late on the lively Tiernan Mulvenna forced a great save from the UCL 'keeper with a fine header. UCL also had chances with Ian Doyle and Mark Duignan going close. Either side could have snatched it. “We were a lot better in the second-half but it takes time for lads to gel,†said the MDL manager afterwards. “We didn't have a warm up game and you could tell from that. I feel, to be honest, we should be looking to win that match, we dug our own grave a little bit in the first-half, just a few small things we need to get right.†Next up for the MDL is a clash with the AUL. If they win that it would be a big scalp. Don't rule it out. Meath & District League – B O'Callaghan (Trim Celtic); D Hoey (Rock Celtic), T O'Hare (Glenmuir Utd). S Doyle (Kentstown Rovers), D Conway (Trim Celtic), S McCabe (Rock Celtic), B Woods (Carrick Rovers), B Murphy (Duleek), B Kerley (Carrick Rovers), T Mulvenna (Woodview Celtic), M McCormack (Trim Celtic). Subs - G Conway (Duleek) for D Conway, P Campbell (Trim Celtic) for McGuinness, G O'Halloran (Duleek) for Kerley. United Churches League - W Wiley; N Butler, A Fay, R O'Callaghan, D Kinsella, M Duignan, A Dunne, P Moran, I Doyle, E Bennis, P O'Brien. Sub - S Kearney for O'Brien. Referee - Karl Nolan (United Churches League).