THE phenomenon that is Peter Hutton steered champions elect Derry City past another tricky obstacle at Belfield Park yesterday en route to the league title.

Recovering a fortnight ahead of schedule from a thigh injury,

Hutton trained for the first time in three weeks on Saturday, kicked a ball for the first time an hour before the match and then come off the bench to plunder a priceless 87th minute winner.

Tireless - and fast with it - Hutton's "engine" would probably survive the Circuit of Ireland rally. To that can now be added an extraordinary recovery period. The midfielder's 12 goals from 25 appearances shows his peerless box to box qualities.

Derry aren't half the team without Hutton and Liam Coyle (he came on in the 58th minute), as was shown by a largely unimaginative and totally predictable first hour of long balling. One cannot recall one Derry defender playing a square pass when launching something more considered than safety first punts skyward and forward.

Derry continued to create little against a game UCD side who had played what little football there was on a hard, bouncy pitch until daylight robbery was committed four minutes from time.

In a well populated UCD area, there may well have been a foul by Coyle in the build up as he flicked on a Declan Boyle throw for Sean Hargan's header to take out the last line of defence. Hutton also looked to be standing offside as he swivelled superbly to steer his volley past Seamus Kelly.

Theo Dunne and his players were outraged, as they were with a strong penalty claim earlier when Gavin Dykes handled inside the area.

However, UCD possibly revealed a soft underbelly in cracking at the first hint of concerted pressure all afternoon. Derry, however, cannot be accused of having any soft underbelly (which is why they thoroughly deserve to be champions if they don't trip up spectacularly), especially with the all action Gavin Dykes at the heart of their defence. This constituted a sixth 1-0 win since Christmas, the last five of them coming away from home. That's how leagues are won.

An exultant Felix Healy, who now knows it would require three slips in their last five games to lose the title, was honest about the victory. "Last week, we played well and lost. That was possibly our worst performance of the season and we won. That's football for you."

Asked whether it was safety first (perhaps 1-0 wins until the finishing line), Healy's hackles rose in characteristic fashion. In a lengthy response, the understandable pragmatist in him wondered aloud if Kevin Keegan would now agree, and then pointed to Bob Paisely's maxim: "It doesn't matter how you play as long as you win" before adding that he resented being asked the question.

In fairness, definitive judgements cannot be based on one away performance. Furthermore the hardness of the pitch and the high bounce made the ball a stubborn foe. It sometimes took two or three "passing" headers just to bring the ball down but at least UCD were prepared to do so and occasionally gambled across the back. In most areas they also won their individual duels.

Rarely have Tom Mohan and ex student James Keddy been kept as quiet as they were by Declan Fitzgerald and Eamonn McLoughlin. Eoin Bennis particularly, profited and twice got behind the Derry cover before being closed down.

Aidan Lynch didn't put a foot wrong at the back and Ciaran Kavanagh was the most dynamic central midfielder. He and Jason Colwell gave UCD an attacking midfield threat which Derry lacked until Hutton came on. The sharpness of Jason Sherlock ahead of two or three Derry defenders gave UCD a continual "out".

One of Sherlock's lay offs instigated the clearest chance of the first half when Robert Griffin rounded Declan Boyle and crossed for Andy Myler to head just over. A half hour elapsed in the second half before the first shot of any hue, Tony McDonnell driving a free wide before Bennis and Myler, after 79 and 83 minutes, broke clear only to shoot wastefully.

Derry created nothing save for the Keddy run which culminated in Ryan Coyle testing Kelly low to his right post with a well struck 20 yard shot. The chances which saw Sean Hargan, slicing wide, and Gary Beckett, bravely denied by Kelly, break clear both came from speculative defensive clearances and rare defensive errors.

Cue the phenomenon.