Ashton delighted with spirit of Ramblers after sending off
REACTION
Daire Walsh
COBH RAMBLERS coach Stuart Ashton hailed the spirit of his side last night, as they recovered from the 59th-minute dismissal of Peter Callanan to record an impressive victory over Shelbourne at Tolka Park.
Ashton was in charge of Ramblers for this game in the absence of manager Stephen Henderson, and though he admitted that Cian Leonard’s second-half winner was probably against the run of play, he was thrilled with their efforts in the closing stages of the tie.
“Obviously, going down to 10 men, we had to change the shape to it. Then we’ve got a goal, probably against the run of play.
“With 10 men we’re defending for a lot of it, but we stuck at it.
“The spirit of the lads and the work-rate of the lads was excellent there for the remainder of the game with the 10 men,” Ashton remarked.
“If I’m being honest, probably deserved to hold onto the lead. I think we defended resoundingly, we put bodies on the line. We were organised, we kept our shape, and it was an opportunist goal. He took his chance and he buried it when he got it.”
Following Callanan’s sending off, Leonard was operating in a lone striker role, and Ashton felt his goal on 70 minutes was just reward for his contribution to Cobh’s 14th league win of 2017.
“He was playing up there on his own at that stage, and he was working his socks off. He’s got in there and he’s kept his composure.
“One-on-one with the keeper, and he’s slotted it away brilliantly from our point of view.”
This was Cobh’s third consecutive triumph in the league, and it means that divisional leaders Waterford still have some work to do before they can be certain of their promotion to the top-flight for the 2018 season.
With four games remaining in the campaign, Cobh trail their Munster rivals by seven points, while they are also eight points clear of third place UCD.
The Blues are still the front runners for the First Division title, but as the only other realistic challengers for the crown, Ashton was adamant that Cobh would continue to fight until the bitter end.
“From our point of view, we’re still in there, and we’ve got to keep doing our jobs every week.
“Again, that’s another one chalked off so to speak. Until it’s mathematically impossible for us, we’ll keep doing that.
“Even when it is with games remaining, we’ll keep playing and keep coming out – as we do every game – to try and win games,” Ashton added.