An Enda Curran hat-trick sent Treaty United into the final four of the FAI Cup, as the First Division side stunned their Premier Division counterparts at the Markets Field.
Opening the scoring with a spot-kick before doubling his tally 10 minutes later, Curran would seal his third and Treaty's passage into the semi-finals just 10 minutes into the second half.
The sides exchanged late goals to give punters even more bang for their buck, but the contest was over long before that.
Treaty United and UCD probably wouldn’t have begun the season prioritising this competition, but with the hosts having won eight of their last 10 in all competitions as well as needing just four points to bag a play-off spot, and with the Students coming off the back of a shock win over Dundalk, this all of a sudden felt like an opportunity rather than a distraction.
UCD have found the net just 22 times in 29 league games – the lowest total in the top division, but thanks to Thomas Lonergan’s brace last week and scoring six in their two cup games to date, they wouldn’t be entering this tie with such concerns.
But there was a decent number in attendance for this one, which added to the occasion.
And they would have been pleasantly surprised by Treaty’s enterprise given Tommy Barrett spoke at length last week about catching them on the break might be the order of the day.
The best way to describe Treaty is workmanlike, but they do have occasional x-factor. The primary source of that is Willie Armshaw. The tricky winger is a nightmare for opposing defenders due to his quick feet.
They were on full display just before the 30-minute mark when Evan Osam slid in to try and win the ball, but it had long-departed the scene.
Derek Tomney pointed straight to the spot and Curran stepped up to fire past Kian Moore. The penalty was struck so viciously that it didn't matter that Moore had guessed correctly.
If that impetus wasn’t enough proof that the divisional disparity mattered not to the home side, they’d double their lead 10 minutes later.
With what seemed a rather routine defensive duty for Sam Todd, the UCD centre-back scooped the ball towards his own goal after a bizarre touch.
Curran went one-on-one and he steadied himself before striking to Moore’s right. The ball hit the post, trickled along the goal line before settling into the back of the net. The noise from the Garryowen venue was quite something.
And for his final trick, he’d smash a ball over the head of Moore from just inside the UCD box shortly after the interval.
In truth, this never felt like much of a contest, much to both the surprise and delight of the vast majority in attendance.
Armshaw and Harry O’Conor exchanged goals late on, but it would make no difference to the result on what felt like the marquee night for the club since they were founded two years ago.
Treaty United: Conor Winn; Ben O’Riordan, Sean Guerins, Callum McNamara, Marc Ludden; Lee Devitt, Mark Walsh (Matt Keane, 89); Willie Armshaw (Conor Melody, 79), Stephen Christopher (Joel Coustrain, 89), Dean George (Joe Collins, 79); Enda Curran (Succeed Edogun, 60).
UCD: Kian Moore; Evan Osam, Sam Todd, Jack Keaney; Alex Dunne (Donal Higgins, 54), Evan Caffrey, Dara Keane, Mark Dignam (Alex Nolan, 54), Dylan Duffy; Sean Brennan (Harry O’Connor, 75), Thomas Lonergan.
Referee: Derek Tomney (Dublin).
