Derry City 4 UCD 1: DERRY CITY consolidated their third-place position in the Premier Division with a superb second-half display at the Brandywell last night against UCD.

Derry got off to a flyer after just one minute and 24 seconds when Mark Farren broke the deadlock after an Owen Morrison shot had been parried by goalkeeper Billy Brennan. The home side should have doubled their lead but Brennan 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. In the 23rd minute UCD worked the ball in from the right and the unmarked Timmy Purcell drove the ball home from the edge of the area.

Derry opened the second half in a frenzy and after Niall McGinn had curled a shot wide, the same player made amends in the 49th minute. Gareth McGlynn played the perfect pass into the path of the winger who finished to the net.

In the 56th minute Morrison sealed the win when he curled a superb free-kick to the net from 20 yards. And substitute Kevin McHugh ended the rout in the 93rd minute.

DERRY CITY: Doherty; McCallion, Delaney, Hutton, Gray; McGinn, Molloy (Martyn 84), McGlynn, Morrison (Deery 74); Sammon (McHugh 63), Farren.

UCD: Brennan; Mahon, McNally, McMillan, Doyle; Fitzgerald (Reilly 76), Bolger (Finn 71), King, McWalter (O'Callaghan 88); Byrne, Purcell.

Referee: D McKeon (Dublin).