Derry City consolidated their third place position in the Premier Division after a superb second-half performance at the Brandywell against UCD.
And while Stephen Kenny's men will be disappointed to have conceded a goal midway through the opening half, the Foylesiders showed great character to bounce back during the early stages of the second half to effectively end this match as a contest.
Derry got off to a flyer after just 84 seconds when Mark Farren broke the deadlock after an Owen Morrison shot had been parried by UCD keeper Billy Brennan.
And while that goal clearly stunned the students, Derry continued to grow in confidence and surge forward at every opportunity.
Indeed, the home side really should have doubled their lead but the UCD keeper did well to block a Conor Sammon effort in the ninth minute before Morrison smashed an effort off the UCD crossbar three minutes later.
Sammon spurned another superb opportunity in the 14th minute when he headed the ball into Brennan’s hands following a Morrison cross before the visitors hit back with a vengeance.
In the 23rd minute Pete Mahon’s side worked the ball in from the right and the totally unmarked Timmy Purcell drove the ball home from the edge of the area.
Derry opened the second period in a frenzy. Niall McGinn curled a shot agonisingly wide of the target but he made amends in the 49th minute.
Gareth McGlynn gained possession 20 yards from goal and played a perfect pass into the path of the right winger who drove the ball high into the UCD net from an acute angle.
In the 56th minute the hard-working Morrison sealed the win when he scored Derry’s third goal having curled a superb free-kick to the net from 20 yards.
Substitute Kevin McHugh ended the rout in the 93rd minute with a well taken strike, his first goal of the season.
Derry City – Doherty; McCallion, Delaney, Hutton, Gray; McGinn, Molloy (Martyn, 84 mins.), McGlynn, Morrison (Deery, 74 mins.); Sammon (McHugh, 63 mins.), Farren.
UCD – Brennan; Mahon, McNally, McMillan, Doyle; Fitzgerald (Reilly, 76 mins.), Bolger (Finn, 71 mins.), King, McWalter (O'Callaghan, 88 mins.); Byrne, Purcell.
Referee – D. McKeon (Dublin).
