ROBBIE LEHANE is under no illusions but that his new club Cobh Ramblers can do a Wexford Youths on it and win promotion to the top flight and says that it is only a matter of time before the claret-and-blues grace the Premier Division.
“It would be great to see Cobh promoted and if the club keeps going in the right direction, they can fulfil that dream. I think it’s only a matter of time before they come up because they have the squad now.
“It would be brilliant to have those local derbies with Cork City back again on a regular basis and that’s what the club is aiming to achieve. I think everyone in the game would like to see two Cork teams in the top flight,” said Lehane who is eagerly looking forward to the big kick-off in early March.
Lehane will be a key man for Cobh and the onus is very much on his broad shoulders to get the goals to help propel Ramblers into the play-offs.
“I don’t mind if I play in a partnership with someone up front or if I am the lone striker. I think when you play on our own as the lone front man, you have to do more of everything. You have to show to feet, you have to run in behind and so on and you have to take your chances,” said Robbie who bagged 30 goals over two seasons as City’s U-19’s won back-to-back doubles.
“I played with Danny (Morrissey) the first year we won the league and Cup double and then the second time I played with lads like Sean O’Callaghan, Daniel Santry and Alan Browne and it was great to do the double, double because a lot of people didn’t think we were as good as the first team.
“But it would have been a crime if we had not won that first double because we had an unbelievable team with Danny, John Kavanagh and Garry Buckley in the side. It was one of the best teams I ever played with. I think 10 of us went on to play consistently at League of Ireland level.
“I think I got even more satisfaction out of the second double because we proved even more people wrong and we were under even more pressure to do it,” added Robbie who had a decade with his local Douglas Hall right up to U-17’s level.
Signing for Stephen Henderson’s Ramblers was an easy decision for the Douglas man who had a loan spell at Sligo Rovers towards the end of last season.
“The big attraction was that I’d be staying at home and that was an important factor. I think Cork is big enough to have two decent League of Ireland clubs and the hope is that Ramblers will indeed gain promotion. I think Cobh can get to the play-offs because they are not far off it and when you see Wexford coming up as champions then anything is possible,” he told me.
“I am completely focussed on the Cobh job and it’s great for me having played with the likes of Shane O’Connor, Kevin Mulcahy, David Browne, Jason Abbott and Brendan Frahill. Kevin and I played together at Douglas Hall and again at Cork City. Familiar faces always help when you go to a new club and it helps you settle in fast.
“Cobh play a nice brand of attacking football and they do score goals and with me up top I need the ball played into feet or down the channels. They don’t lump the ball forward and they play out from the back, through midfield and it all sounds good to me. I have been working on my own fitness programme over the winter and I did some work with Eoin Feheely for a few weeks out in his Ballincollig Fitness Centre too and I feel fine and ready to go,” said Lehane who has started back pre-season with his new team-mates.
