UCD beat Villarreal in an entertaining mid-season friendly at the UCD Bowl on Saturday night. Despite atrocious weather conditions by kick off time, the pitch at the Bowl was in an excellent state and The Students won a seven goal thriller by four goals to three.

The Students started brightly. Graham Rusk worked the ball out left to Darren Meenan. His low cross was met by Robbie Creevy and was goalward bound until a sliding tackle from the Villarreal defence saw the shot blocked and the ball cleared.

UCD then had a great chance when Creevy stole the ball off the Spaniards as they came out of defence. He ran towards the goal, entered the box and shot. The effort was wide to the left hand side. Having played the better football for the opening thirteen minutes, UCD fell behind. The Spaniards won a free-kick on the left hand edge of the box. The shot, taken by Valera, deflected off a man in the wall, wrong footing Ger Barron, and nestled in the far right hand corner.

UCD did not let their heads drop however and scored two goals in quick succession, ten minutes later. Samir Belhout was having a great game and went on one of his typically energetic runs down the right wing. His pin point accurate cross was met by Paul O’Connor who couldn’t miss from five yards out. With twenty seven minutes gone, UCD were deservedly level.

Four minutes later, the Students took the lead. Belhout met a Meenan cross at the back post forcing the Villarreal defence to clear for a corner on the left. The deep corner was met by Michael Leahy at the back post and his header gave Diego Lopez no chance in the Villarreal goal.

UCD were growing in confidence now and another move down the right wing involving Belhout saw Rusk meet his cross with a cheeky flick. The effort was just wide of the right hand post. When UCD had to defend, Sean Harding was excellent in defence. UCD deserved their two-one half time lead.

Villarreal brought out an entirely new team for the second half and it had an immediate impact. Iriome moved down the left hand side of the park and crossed. Nilmar met the ball with a header which was well saved by Barron but Ruben reacted quickest to stab the ball home to equalise.

Villarreal were now putting UCD under real pressure but it would be UCD who would score next, after sixty-four minutes. Second half substitutes Dean Marshall and Tomas Boyle combined as the former’s free-kick from the left was met by the latter. Boyle’s header was powerful and over the outrushing Cesar in the Villarreal goal.

Six minutes later, Villarreal equalised again. Santi Cazorla went on a run, retaining possession from the midfield right into the UCD box before finishing well in the right-hand corner. It was an accurate finish but the build up had been a little too easy for the Spaniards.

Ger Barron kept UCD in the game with two fine saves, stopping shots from Nilmar and Cazorla, before UCD took the lead for the second time. A deep cross from a corner on the left managed to miss everyone before being turned into the goal by Villarreal defender, Joan Oriol. While the nature of the goal was somewhat fortuitous, the lead was no more than UCD deserved.

UCD had five minutes to defend for their lives and claim a famous win. The Spaniards had two great chances. Ruben beat the offside trap and found himself free five yards from the UCD goal. His effort was just wide to the right hand side of the goal. A minute later, Nilmar was in a similarly good position and also managed to place his chipped effort just to the right of the goal.

Barron’s kick out was the final action of the game and UCD had recorded a famous a victory. The College were not afraid to take the game to their opponents and they were duly rewarded against a team comprised of World Cup and European Championship winners.

UCD - Barron; Harding (Kavanagh 49), Nangle, O'Connor, Leahy (Captain) (Boyle 45), Corry (Ledwith 59), Belhout (Marshall 45) (Morrison 83), Creevy (Russell 59), Rusk (Roche 74), O’Conor, Meenan (Doyle 74). Subs not used: McGinley. Goal Scorers: O’Conor 23, Leahy 27, Boyle 64, Joan Oriol (o.g) 85.

Villarreal CF (1ST Half) – Diego Lopez, Marcchena, Capedvilla, Mario, Joselu, Gerard Bardas, Ruben, Cani, Kiko, Valero, Bruno Villarreal CF (2nd Half) – Cesar, Marino, Iriome, Pepe, Castellani, Marcos Gullon, Marcos Senna, Cazorla, Nilmar, Mussachio, Joan Oriol. Goal Scorers: Valero 13, Ruben 46, Cazorla 70.

Referee – Damien Hancock (Dublin).

UCDSoccer.com man of the match: Paul O’Conor (UCD).