Barry Ryan earned UCD a point with two stunning stops in injury-time as this game simply offered too little too late on a freezing afternoon. The scoreline just about summed up the frustrating seasons these sides are having.

Clear-cut chances were few and far between until Cork exploded into life right at the death.

First John Caulfield had Ryan diving at full stretch with a low drive. Then Pat Morley, needing one more goal to go into second place in the all-time scorers' chart, was outfoxed by the UCD 'keeper in a one-on-one situation seconds later.

Prior to that, the game was perhaps best summed up by a dreadful open goal miss by Cork's Mark Herrick on 64 minutes.

UCD had the better of it up to that point. A fingertip save by Ryan from Derek Coughlan thankfully sparked the game into life on 17 minutes.

But it was Cork goalkeeper Michael Devine whose goal was to be the busier for much of the rest of a drab first-half.

Eoin Bennis was continually finding space in behind the visitors defence down the right. He set up Mick O'Donnell whose looping header forced Devine to push it over the crossbar.

Bennis was in again from Alan Mahon's ball over the top on 36 minutes, but shot wide across goal.

Cork survived a further scare as halftime approached. Ciaran Kavanagh cleverly put Ciaran Martyn in on goal and Martyn's touch beat Devine, but Colin O'Brien got back to put the ball out for a corner.

The second half cried out for a goal with UCD probing to little effect as Cork relied on the counter-attack before laying siege to the UCD goal in the dying minutes but to no avail.

UCD: B Ryan; Mahon, Lynch, Delaney, D Ryan; Martyn, McDonnell, Kavanagh, O'Donnell; Bennis, Grogan. Subs: McAuley for Lynch (26 mins), Kilmurray for Bennis (74 mins).

Cork City: Devine; O'Brien, Coughlan, O'Rourke, O'Halloran; Tynan, Gaughan, Herrick, Cahill; Morley, Caulfield. Subs: Mulligan for Tynan (60 mins).

Referee: J Feighery (Dublin).