Ramblers rally falls short by a single goal
FAI CUP
Daire Walsh
COBH Ramblers may have come up just short against St Patrick’s Athletic in the FAI Cup quarter-final at Richmond Park last Saturday afternoon, but defender Ben O’Riordan hailed the effort of his team-mates in their determined second-half display.
After finding themselves staring into a three-goal half-time deficit, Cobh responded with goals from Connor Ellis (penalty) and Rob Lehane after the break. Although he acknowledged that they could have been even further behind at the mid-way stage, O’Riordan feels Ramblers showed just what they are capable of in the second period.
“Strange game alright. We thought it could be 6-0 there at half-time, and Hendo [manager Stephen Henderson] just told us ‘be aggressive in the second-half’.
“We just went for it, got the early goal, and everyone single one of us just ran our hearts out,” O’Riordan remarked.
“I think the first-half we don’t know what happened. We just didn’t get started, but the second-half we just showed the rest of the league, even the Premier Division, what Cobh Ramblers are capable of.”
O’Riordan was one of three centre-backs selected by Henderson in a 5-3-2 formation, but following goals by Christy Fagan, Jamie McGrath and Billy Dennehy for the hosts, they were left with a mountain to climb.
O’Riordan was more than willing to accept responsibility for Fagan’s opener, but also feels that they are capable of beating anyone if they can eliminate the mistakes from their game.
“I put my hands up myself. I kind of made a mistake for the first goal, and we did make a couple of mistakes for the third goal even as well. If we just cut out those, we could beat any team. It was definitely a disappointing start, but as I said again, we just showed what we’re capable of. 3-2 against St Pat’s, they’re in the Premier Division.”
With just five games remaining in the 2016 campaign, time is running out for Cobh in their quest to secure a promotion play-off spot.
However, if they can replicate the form they showed in the second-half against Pat’s, O’Riordan believes they are capable of winning all of their remaining fixtures.
“To gain promotion, we probably have to win every single game for the rest of our season.
“If we play like that, what we did in the second-half, we’ve every chance to win every single game.
“Because we’re against a very good Pat’s team here. We showed what we’re worth, so hopefully we can take that now for the rest of the season,” O’Riordan added.