Cobh undone by second-half goals
SOCCER
Daire Walsh
SHELBOURNE…………………………………. 2
COBH RAMBLERS…………………………….. 0
COBH RAMBLERS suffered a set-back to their promotion prospects at Tolka Park last night, when second-half goals from James English and Aidan Collins propelled Shelbourne towards a hard-earned triumph in the SSE Airtricity League First Division.
The St Colman’s Park outfit had claimed all three points against the Dubliners at the start of the campaign, but their disappointing second-half showing means fourth-placed Cobh missed out on a chance to leapfrog Drogheda United and UCD in the table.
Since suffering a 3-1 defeat at the hands of UCD on their last trip to Dublin in May, Cobh’s form had been impressive. After returning to winning ways with a home victory over Cherry Orchard in the FAI Cup, they record consecutive league successes against Waterford, Cabinteely, and Athlone Town.
Ramblers supremo Stephen Henderson made two alterations to his starting line-up for this encounter, with Gary Comerford and Jonathan Creamer replacing David Curran and Eoin McGreevy respectively.
Cobh started the weekend seven points clear of Shels, who made a change in management in the wake of last Friday’s reversal to Waterford at the same venue. Following the resignation of Kevin Doherty, former player Owen Heary was appointed.
The arrival of Heary would have, understandably, put a spring in the step of the Shels’ players, and they began the game on the front-foot. However, the Cobh defence were holding firm under this initial pressure.
Midfielders Comerford and Kevin Mulcahy were offering a great deal of protection to the Ramblers back-four, and even though he was being closely watched by former Coventry City trainee Daire Doyle, Shane O’Connor exerted a certain influence in possession.
With intermittent spells of heavy rain making it difficult for both sets of players, clear-cut opportunities were few and far between in the opening period. Cobh netminder Paul Hunt was forced to tip a looping English header from an Alan Kehoe cross over the bar on 25 minutes, though, and English was also marginally off-target from the subsequent corner.
Shells full-back Adam O’Connor saw a long-range effort floating wide of the mark just shy of the half-hour point, and winger Lorcan Shannon almost connected to a deep 40th-minute delivery, although the offside flag was eventually raised on that occasion.
The hard-working Steven Christopher was picked on the edge of Shels box in first-half stoppage-time, but his pass to O’Connor was ultimately cut out by the alert home rearguard.
Because they were playing quite deep prior to the interval, Cobh would have been satisfied to be on level terms when the action resumed. They endured a nightmare beginning to the half, though, as they found themselves facing into a two-goal deficit by the 53rd minute. The deadlock was broken less than two minutes after the re-start, when Shannon picked out English with a precise ball, and the industrious striker coolly found the Ramblers net after taking the ball around Hunt.
This was a massive blow for the visitors, and Shannon was once again the provider for Shels’ second goal six minutes later. His free from the right-flank was well-directed towards centre-half Collins, whose powerful header was too much for Hunt.
There were protests following the goal, but with referee Adriano Reale waving away Cobh’s appeals, the away side were facing an uphill struggle for the remainder of the tie.
Indeed, the excellent Hunt ensured that they were still within touching distance of Shels on the hour, after he produced a stunning save from English, who had been picked out via an inch-perfect cross from former Ireland international Stephen Elliott.
The Ramblers shotstopper also turned away a Gavin Boyne free, and with Shels continuing to press forward for a third goal, fresh legs were called upon from the bench. A double change saw Cian Kingston and Eoin McGreevy deputising for Comerford and Christopher, while lone striker Creamer made way for Markus Gustavsson.
They found it difficult to make an impact in the closing-quarter however (when Graham McCarthy was dismissed for a second yellow), and Ramblers will need to bounce back at home to Drogheda next Saturday.
SHELBOURNE: Jack Brady; Adam O’Connor, Aidan Collins (Robert O’Reilly 75), Ryan Robinson, Alan Kehoe; Lorcan Shannon (Cian Kavanagh 83), Gavin Boyne, Daire Doyle, Jamie Doyle; James English, Stephen Elliot (Carl Walshe 78).
COBH RAMBLERS: Paul Hunt; Charlie Flemming, Ben O’Riordan, Christopher McCarthy, Graham McCarthy; Gary Comerford (Cian Kingston 69), Kevin Mulcahy; Steven Christopher (Eoin McGreevy 69), Shane O’Connor, Ian Mylod; Jonathan Creamer (Markus Gustavsson 76).
Referee: Adriano Reale (Dublin).