"It wasn't so much a six as a nine pointer," Kilkenny City assistant manager Billy Walsh said after seeing the league's bottom team beaten for the 14th time in 20 games this season.

His side's inability to take their chances in the first half had, he said, cost them the game and admitted that whatever slender hopes the visitors had of avoiding relegation had vanished.

City's misfortune is, of course, somewhat welcome to Martin Moran whose own side hadn't managed to win a league game since the last time they played Kilkenny at Buckley Park last November.

Despite the dismal run yesterday's victory brought Cork, Galway and Derry all back within five points with the students having a game in hand on each of the first two.

However, UCD were very fortunate to win this game. Had Carlos Rocha put the visitors in front when he should have very early on or had Barry Ryan not saved Robbie Brunton's 10th minute penalty it might have been a very different game.

Had both gone in it's hard to imagine how UCD - who have found it difficult to score in recent weeks - would have even started to get themselves back into the game.

Having apparently shot their bolt in the first half, though, City then lost control of the game in the second period when Ciaran Martyn could have rounded a fine performance by finishing at least one of the three clear-cut chances he enjoyed.

Instead it was left to 18-yearold Robert Martin, a younger brother of John who turned down a year at Ipswich Town in order to play his football at Belfield, to save the home side's skins.

Ryan started the decisive move with a quick throw out but it was Kevin Grogan's pace followed by his outstanding angled cross that set the goal up even if Martin, making his league debut, did finish rather well from close range.

For the 10 minutes that remained City did their best to reverse the flow of the game but without any success.

Not once did they manage to come close to forcing another save from Ryan whose performance at the time of the spot kick may yet prove to be a crucial moment in his struggling side's season.

UCD: Ryan; Mahon, Delaney, McAuley, McLoughlin; J Martin (O'Donnell, half-time), Martyn, Kavanagh, Grogan; Swan, Fitzpatrick (R Martin, 65 mins).

Kilkenny City: Nelson; Brennan, Wilkinson (Riordan, 85 mins), Mulcahy, Brunton; Parkes, Johnson, Murphy, McAreavy; O'Byrne (O'Neill, 78 mins), Rocha.

Referee: I Stokes (Dublin).