McGreevy hits a vital winner
SOCCER
Daire Walsh
UCD…………………………………….. 0
COBH RAMBLERS…………………… 1
EOIN McGreevy was the hero at the UCD Bowl last night, when Cobh Ramblers kept their promotion play-off dreams alive with a crucial victory over UCD in a tense SSE Airtricity League First Division clash.
With the sides still inseparable on the stroke of 70 minutes, a sharing of the spoils looked to be the most likely outcome. However, the impressive McGreevy produced the decisive moment of the evening, and with four games still to play in the current campaign, Ramblers trail third-place UCD by just three points.
Following their impressive displays from the bench in the 3-2 away defeat to St Patrick’s Athletic in the FAI Cup seven days ago, Garry Comerford and Connor Ellis were promoted to the starting line-up for UCD’s second visit to Belfield in 2016.
They replaced Stephen Christopher and Jonathan Creamer respectively, while Craig Donnellan (a loanee from Cork City) deputised for the suspended Shane O’Connor in a three-man central midfield. As the sole goalscorer in the 3-1 reversal to UCD in May, the experienced O’Connor’s absence was always likely to be felt, to some degree, by the visitors. Ramblers manager Stephen Henderson once again set his side up in a 5-3-2 formation.
The Students were on top of possession in the first-quarter, but McGreevy and striker Rob Lehane linked up well on 14 minutes, before Lehane’s final pass to the Cobh midfielder was marginally overcooked. The ever-influential O’Neill was causing problems for Ramblers with his probing runs from midfield, but his powerful 18th-minute drive towards goal was blocked by the opposition back-four. UCD full-back Liam Scales also had a header from an O’Neill delivery saved comfortably by Cobh netminder Paul Hunt, but as the half wore on, the home team were finding it difficult to get a foothold in the game.
Indeed, Ramblers were beginning to place pressure on the south Dublin outfit, and some shaky moments in the UCD defence led to a series of corners being awarded in their opponents’ favour. They weren’t able to test goalkeeper Niall Corbet from any of these set-pieces, but efforts from Lehane and McGreevy, in the 26th and 29th minutes, only just cleared the Students’ crossbar.
The game was still waiting to spark into life, however, and with neither attack cutting loose, it looked like the deadlock would remain unbroken when the half-time whistle sounded. Corbet gathered a supremely-executed volley by McGreevy three minutes prior to the interval, though, and Hunt subsequently turned away a Greg Sloggett strike from 20 yards in the only minute of first-half stoppage-time.
This was a significant let-off for Cobh, but four minutes after the restart, they almost found a breakthrough themselves. A error in the UCD back-four set Connor Ellis free on goal, but although he unleashed a firm low shot on target, Corbet raced off his line to prevent him from adding to his successful penalty in last weekend’s Cup encounter.
A goal here would have acted as a real tonic for Cobh as they aimed to keep themselves in the hunt for a top-three finish, and Donnellan fired over four minutes later – when Ian Mylod rolled a free-kick into his path.
Yet, Donnellan was booked just shy of the hour mark for a mistimed tackle close to the Cobh box, and O’Neill was narrowly wide of the mark once again with a well-executed set-piece. Comerford was also cautioned in the 64th-minute, and as a result, Darren Murphy took his place for the closing 20 minutes of the tie.
Many of those in attendance were expecting an onslaught from UCD in the latter stages, but instead they were issued with a hammer blow by their St Colman’s Park counterparts. A dangerous delivery into the area, with close to 71 minutes on the clock, was only half-cleared by the Students, and after the ball fell to him at a left-hand angle, McGreevy fired emphatically beyond the reach of Corbet at his near post.
As they attempted to restore parity to the proceedings, UCD introduced former Republic of Ireland international Jason Byrne to the fray, but Cobh continued to offer a considerable threat when they counter-attacked.
The energetic Ellis cut inside onto his right-foot with nine minutes of normal time still to play, and his shot was deflected past the UCD post – much to the relief of the home faithful.
Anthony O’Donnell and Creamer joined the aforementioned Murphy from the bench in the final-quarter, and even though there were a couple of minor scares during the four minutes of injury-time at the end of the second-half, Cobh ultimately held firm for their 11th league triumph of 2016.
They are next in action at home to Waterford United next Saturday evening, a game that will now take on even greater significance for Cobh Ramblers.
UCD: Niall Corbet; Mark Langtry, Maxi Kouogun, Tomas Boyle, Liam Scales (Jason Byrne 75); Greg Sloggett, Gary O’Neill; Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters, Cathal Brady, Jason McClelland (Simon Power 87); Ryan Swan (Georgie Kelly 66).
COBH RAMBLERS: Paul Hunt; Charlie Flemming, Ben O’Riordan, Christopher McCarthy, Kevin Mulcahy, Ian Mylod; Craig Donnellan, Garry Comerford (Darren Murphy 69), Eoin McGreevy (Anthony O’Donnell 76); Rob Lehane (Jonathan Creamer 81), Connor Ellis.
Referee: Michael Connolly (Donegal).