UCD and Dundalk remain in the bottom two of the Airtricity League Premier Division following their 1-1 draw at the Belfield Bowl.
After a disappointing opening half-hour, the visitors took the lead in the 35th minute when Nathan Murphy timed his run to perfection to head home an inviting delivery by Paul Walsh.
UCD resumed strongly after the interval and they registered a deserved levelling goal as Robbie Benson showed superb poaching instincts to shoot home after Dundalk failed to deal with a Peter Corry corner-kick.
In an error-strewn opening, the hosts dominated possession and territory, backed by a stiff breeze blowing towards their opponents’ goal, but they created few chances of note.
Paul Corry looked most likely to open up a disciplined Dundalk defence and in the 11th minute he released Dean Clarke, whose pull back was driven wide by the stretching Benson.
The visitors threatened sporadically with Gary Shanahan looking their most potent attacking conduit and in the 21st minute Luke Danville rose to meet a Murphy corner but his header failed to trouble John Kelly as it sailed harmlessly wide.
In the 34th minute, however, Dundalk gained a crucial advantage as Paul Walsh gained possession in the inside right position and his driven cross was met perfectly by Murphy, whose header from 12 yards sailed over the exposed Kelly for the game’s opening goal.
Crucially, the hosts responded well upon the restart and they drew level in the 49th minute when Benson was on hand to stab home from six years after Peter Cherrie had saved well from Ciaran Nangle’s header.
Corry and Shanahan exchanged shots as the tempo of the game was raised a notch with Walsh becoming increasingly influential at the heart of the Dundalk midfield.
In the 69th minute, the Louth men almost regained their advantage when a Paul Griffin free-kick deflected off the UCD wall but the ball narrowly evaded Kelly’s left-hand post with the Students clearing the ensuing corner at the second attempt.
With a quarter of an hour remaining, Corry found substitute Chris Lyons, who did superbly to wriggle inside Derek Foran but his shot failed to match the quality of the build-up and was comfortably repelled by Cherrie.
The final chance arrived at the feet of Shanahan in the 88th minute but he lacked the necessary composure and blazed well over the crossbar from ten yards.
UCD: Kelly; Langtry, Leahy, D O’Connor, Nangle; Mulhall (Douglas, 75), P O’Connor, Benson, Corry, Clarke (McNelis, 51); Morrison (Lyons, 72).
Dundalk: Hanley (Cherrie, 28); Foran, Danville (McDonnell, 82), Burns, Osborne; Walsh, Shields, Mountney, Murphy (Watts, 59); Griffin, Shanahan.
