First Division round-up: Wexford win at UCD, Treaty held by Bray

Wexford came out on top in a battle of two teams with lofty ambitions and kickstarted their season with a deserved, yet hard-fought 2-1 victory at UCD, who are still searching for their first win at home - a run now stretching all the way back to August.

Among the 356 well wrapped-up spectators was Republic of Ireland Under-21 boss Jim Crawford, whose son James was an unused sub for the visitors, but his presence and watchful eye gave the younger players on show a chance to impress.

The hosts, missing the inspirational serial winner Ronan Finn, who is still struggling with a knee injury, looked to dominate possession from the off and started brightly without creating too much trouble in the final third.

But it was James Keddy's men, who hadn’t lined out in three weeks due to the elements causing havoc with the fixtures, that showed no signs of ring rust and began to grow into the game.

The pacey Reece Webb on the right wing looked the best avenue to fashion an opener, whipping in cross after cross into the danger area.

It took until just after the half-hour mark for the first shot in anger, and what a hit it was.

As the visitors began to ramp up the pressure, Darragh Levingstone narrowly missed the top corner with a beautiful first-time effort, having picked up a loose header from UCD’s Harry Curtis just outside the area.

Minutes later the Slaneysiders, very much in the ascendancy, created another glorious chance to take the lead when Aaron Dobbs played a delightful outside-of-the-boot pass through to Luka Lovic, who was sharply smothered by the onrushing Kian Moore as the midfielder arrived into the area.

The one-way traffic continued and the pressure finally told in the 37th minute, although it was a calamitous error at the