Ramblers to address early goal give-away
SOCCER
Daire Walsh
FOLLOWING their third defeat in four games, away to Cabinteely last Friday evening, Cobh Ramblers captain Paul Hunt accepted the side need to address the situation that finds them conceding early goals on a regular basis.
After falling 2-0 behind to Galway United in the opening-quarter of their previous First Division encounter, quick-fire goals by Jack Watson and Kevin Knight left Cobh reeling at Stradbrook in round 21 of this year’s second-tier campaign. With six league games remaining in 2018, Hunt is hoping the squad can get back to doing what is best for the collective.
“We’re starting so poorly. We need to get our finger on it. We need to get some lads doing the job that they’re supposed to be doing and not doing what they want to do,” a disappointed Hunt stated after Friday’s game.
“It’s that simple. It’s not complicated. Boys are starting to do what they want and not what they should be for the team.
“We’re conceding a goal and straight away we’re conceding one or two more. You can’t do that at this level.
“You can’t give teams two or three goal starts, because you won’t get back in the game.”
Having challenged for promotion for two seasons running, it is proving to be an underwhelming 2018 for Ramblers.
They currently lie in eighth place in the First Division table – now four points adrift of the ever-improving Cabinteely.
While they have struggled to develop any kind of consistency, Hunt identifies an away win over Finn Harps in mid-May as an example of what the team is capable of.
“They’ve proven in games. The hardest place to win in this league is up in Finn Harps and this group went up and they got a 1-0 win. They’re well capable and they’ve won other games that they’ve dug in. They weren’t the prettiest, but we held out. Believe you me, the boys will be firing, because they have to. It’s just that simple. It’s no going back now, they just have to pull the finger out. The whole lot of them.”
With a number of chances created during the course of the contest, Cobh certainly possess a considerable amount of attacking potential.
If they can get a handle on the issues that are plaguing the Leesiders at the opposite end of the field, then Hunt is adamant results can start falling their way once again.
“The problem isn’t creating chances. Even over the last three years, we’ll always create chances, but the goals we’re conceding are just so soft and so avoidable. If you don’t give away stupid goals you can’t lose,” Hunt said.