Ebbe lesson for Students

DEAN Ebbe scored all four goals for Bluebell United as they defeated UCD 4-0 at Thornfield on Sunday, to remain top of the LSL Sunday Senior.
It was Bluebell’s third win of the season having previously beaten Bangor Celtic and Greystones United, as well as their opening day draw away to Malahide United.
The defending champions were always in control of the game and raced into a 3-0 lead at the break thanks to a hat trick from former Shamrock Rovers man Ebbe. Considering UCD were playing in their first game of the season, it was probably no surprise to see Bluebell so on top.
The second half was much quieter in comparison, something UCD can take encouragement from, but Ebbe did manage to find the net once more to complete an excellent individual and team performance.
Bluebell manager Andy Noonan spoke to GazetteSport about his team’s victory and their impressive start to the season as a whole.
“It was a great win but I wouldn’t be reading too much into it because it was UCD’s first game of the season, and our fourth.
“At this stage, I think the first five or six weeks for all the teams is about trying to get that competitive match fitness into the legs.
“You could definitely see that with us; we had that little edge over UCD but they’ll soon catch up with everybody I think.
“In three or four weeks time, we wouldn’t be beating them 4-0.”
Noonan also spoke about keeping his team grounded as they look to win the league for the third year in a row.
“The competition in the squad keeps everybody grounded because they’ll self-regulate that themselves and that’s the type of player that we have at Bluebell.
“Nobody really gets carried away because if they do, they get put back in their place fairly quickly by the senior players in the dressing room.
“Luckily enough I have vast experience [in the team] – I would argue that three quarters of the squad are ex-pros that have played in England or in the League of Ireland.”
The team are four points better off at this stage than last year and, according to Noonan, they try to better themselves rather than look at other teams.
“We dropped six points in the first four games and, this season, we have only dropped two so we don’t look at other clubs, we see how we can better ourselves.
“I was very fortunate that not many lads moved on. I think when you win the league and hold onto a squad that is used to winning, you have a very easy job after that.”