Cobh land first victory in Dublin in eight years
MATCH REACTION
Daire Walsh
IT was a very productive night for Cobh Ramblers in Tolka Park, as they claimed all three points in an entertaining SSE Airtricity League First Division meeting with Shelbourne.
Speaking in the direct aftermath of his side’s impressive win, Ramblers supremo Stephen Henderson revealed that he was pleased with the way his team maintained their shape and discipline.
“We came up with a plan, and the plan was to catch them on the counter, and we caught them on the counter-attack numerous times. We kept our shape, and that’s really important,” Henderson remarked.
“We kept our shape, and we kept our discipline. We went tight when we had to, and we dropped deep when we had to, and we said ‘Shels, come on, what have you got’. We held on for a great clean sheet. It’s a brilliant win, but we know we have work to do.”
On a night when they recorded their first league victory in Dublin since October 2008, Cobh had a number of fine performers.
“We made it hard for ourselves, but there was some top performances there tonight. Shane O’Connor was exceptional. Cian Kingston in the midfield of the park was exceptional. Young [Jason] Abbott played there tonight, and we just found out that he was playing with a dislocated shoulder.
“He went out and he got on with it there tonight, and then the two Galvin twins [Evan and Cory]. Cory came on in the second half, and Cory is full of quality, but he hasn’t trained in five weeks. When Rob [Lehane] gets his first goal, you just get the sense Rob will score a ton of goals.”
In many ways, Cobh surpassed expectations in the Drumcondra venue – as they would have been satisfied to come away with a draw from a tough opening day encounter. Yet, Henderson did acknowledge that there is plenty of work to do before they welcome Drogheda United to St Colman’s Park next Saturday.
“We were coming up here and we were saying ‘let’s try and at least get a point up here’. Because it’s always important to try and get your first point. Just to prove it. When you come into Shelbourne, and you get three points, the confidence is gone through the roof. But we do understand we’ve work to do,” Henderson added.