Collie O'Neill has just come through a more hectic month as boss of First Division UCD than most Premier Division managers will endure over the course of an entire season, and he admits that the Students' Europa League escapades have taken a physical and mental toll – but he wouldn't trade it for anything, saying: “It's been brilliant, it really has.”
UCD's European adventure came to an end after its fourth match when O'Neill's men were beaten 5-1 by Slovan Bratislava in Belfield in their second qualifying round tie. Having lost just 1-0 in Slovakia in the first-leg, there was real hope that the Southsiders could progress even further, emphasized by the 1,361 capacity crowd which packed into the UCD Bowl for the return fixture. Ultimately, the quality of a more experienced team at this level won out and for the players, the disappointment is paramount.
“They're extremely disappointed,” O'Neill told media at the post-match press conference. “They've had a taste for it, they've enjoyed it and they wanted to go at it as long as possible. In fairness, would you like to be playing First Division football or playing this week in, week out?”
Continue reading Collie O'Neill's post-match reaction on Extratime.ie.
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