Exhilarating one moment, flat the next. UCD had their proverbial 15 minutes of fame and then, to the frustration of their loyal but tested following, faded into oblivion.
This latest reversal sees the students still three places off the bottom of the Premier Division table and even at this stage of the season, one can safely assume that `Great Expectations' will not be on the essential reading list.
And as for the National League champions, James Keddy's 65th minute winner was a much needed boost for besieged manager Felix Healy, who admitted that he been forced into making some changes within the club following Derry's disastrous start to the season.
Nonetheless, things didn't start so brightly for the travelling side, with UCD, for the first quarter at least, in irresistible form. Indeed, goalkeeper Tony O'Dowd had to be at his best early on with the talented Micheal O'Byrne forcing two good saves in the opening 10 minutes.
After 16 minutes though, UCD's pressure paid off. Bustling midfielder, Ciaran Kavanagh, had forced a good save from O'Dowd; the Derry defence cleared the lines only for the ball to fall to O'Byrne, who despatched an unstoppable dipping drive over the goalkeeper.
And Derry, clearly on the backfoot at this stage, continued to struggle and were lucky not to go further when UCD caught them square at the back with only the woodwork depriving Eoin Bennis.
That miss was to prove crucial though, as Derry began to come to terms with their opponents and with half-an-hour gone, rightsided midfielder, Ryan Semple pounced from the edge of the box and placed the ball beyond Barry Ryan.
The second half saw the students in disarray with passes continually going astray and crosses equally wide of the target. That lack of composure eventually led to the inevitable punishment and Derry claimed the three points when Keddy turned in a rebound after Ryan could only parry Gary Beckett's strike.
Healy admitted afterwards to being particularly pleased about the result. "It's been a long time since a Derry side came to Belfield and scored two goals. We took a while coming to terms with their system which was a bit strange to us. It meant we had to chase the ball a little but once we countered that we controlled it from there on in."
Noel King, part of the UCD staff, was in contemplative mood afterwards. "You could see the lads were visibly drained at the end. We didn't convert our chances and in the end paid the price."
After a week complaining at losing their Brazilian stars to the Confederations' Cup, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Parma managed quite well without them at the weekend - all recording league victories.Serie A leaders Inter made light of the absence of Brazilian striker Ronaldo by thrashing nine-man AS Roma 3-0 to build a four-point lead over Juventus.Goals from Frenchman Youri Djorkaeff, Marco Branca and Chile's Ivan Zamorano meant Inter did not miss the finishing prowess of the world player of the year. But they were given a helping hand by their third-placed opponents at the start of the second half when Matteo Pivotto and Francesco Totti were sent off within minutes of each other.
