Cobh keep promotion hopes alive
SOCCER
Daire Walsh
CABINTEELY FC………………………………… 1
COBH RAMBLERS……………………………… 3
SECOND-HALF goals from Steven Christopher and Eoin McGreevy were crucial at Stradbrook, when Cobh Ramblers came away with all three points in an SSE Airtricity League First Division clash with Cabinteely.
This was the ninth victory of the league season for Ramblers, who remain in fourth place in the table with 20 games played.
The St Colman’s Park side were aiming to return to winning ways, following successive draws with UCD and Waterford United – and a July 16 defeat to runaway divisional pace-setters Limerick.
Cobh had already recorded two victories over the south Dublin outfit in 2016 – including a hard-earned 2-1 win at the same venue on April 8. Cabinteely did claim a 1-0 success when the teams met in Stradbrook last September.
With this mind, Cobh needed to hit the ground running, wing-backs Charlie Flemming and Mylod offered plenty of width for Ramblers when they gained possession, and following an incisive move on the left-wing with just four minutes gone on the clock, midfielder Steven Christopher was on hand to head home from close-range.
Cabinteely were attempting to settle into the action, but the compact Cobh back-three of Ben O’Riordan, Christopher McCarthy and captain Kevin Mulcahy were making life difficult for their attack.
Ramblers Lehane was narrowly wide of the mark when he found space in the 16th minute, before Cabinteely’s Michael Kelly was on hand to punch clear a curling Mylod effort at the end of the first-quarter.
Mylod also dragged a left-footed drive past the right-hand post, but Cobh’s composure on the ball ensured that Cabinteely weren’t allowed a foothold prior to the interval. Ramblers continued to play in a positive fashion upon the resumption, but the introduction of Mark Slater added a different dimension to their opponents’ attacking movements.
Indeed, Slater forced an excellent save from Slater (via a Gavin Howard cross) on 56 minutes, and after the Cobh rearguard failed to clear the danger, Cabinteely centre-forward Joseph Doyle poked home from a distance of six yards.
Doyle made the headlines recently with a four-goal haul against Athlone Town, and his equaliser set-up an intriguing conclusion to the tie. A defensive error by Cabinteely centre-half Oscar Brennan presented Lehane with an ideal opportunity to restore Cobh’s one-goal lead on the hour mark, but the former Cork City man was agonisingly off-target from a right-hand angle.
There was a fear that Cobh would live to rue this missed chance, but they regained the ascendancy in spectacular style on 66 minutes. Following some patient build-up by the away side, the ball found its way to Christopher 25 yards from goal, and he unleashed an unstoppable volley into the back of the Cabinteely net.
This increased the Cobh confidence once more, and Lehane was desperately unfortunate to see his looping header from a Garry Comerford free-kick, 14 minutes from time, crashing off the woodwork.
A third goal from this move would have provided some much-needed breathing space, but a breakaway finish deep into second-half stoppage-time by late substitute McGreevy (who had only replaced Ellis with one minute of normal time remaining) finally put the outcome beyond doubt – and kept Cobh’s promotion play-off hopes very much alive.
CABINTEELY FC: Michael Kelly; Adam Maher (Paul Fox 73), Oscar Brennan, Edward McDonagh, Jamie Broderick; Ajibola Sule (Mark Slater 46), Gavin Howard, Aaron Brilly, Kevin Knight (Ryan Byrne 84); Ben Hanrahan, Joseph Doyle.
COBH RAMBLERS: Paul Hunt; Ben O’Riordan, Christopher McCarthy, Kevin Mulcahy; Charlie Flemming, Steven Christopher, Craig Donnellan (Cian Kingston 85), Garry Comerford, Ian Mylod; Connor Ellis (Eoin McGreevy 89), Rob Lehane.
Referee: Ben Connolly (Dublin).