Cobh Ramblers host Waterford this Saturday in the Munster Derby at St Colman’s Park. Both sides haven’t made the best starts to the season and are still looking for their first win of the campaign.
Cobh have only played once at home this year after their home tie with Longford Town was postponed. The Rams have found it tough going so far especially away from home. They let in nine goals without reply in their last two away fixtures against Finn Harps and Galway respectively. The u19 season has now finished though the likes of Chris McCarthy, Sean O’Mahony and Jonathan Creamer will be able to fully focus on their senior commitments. They are without the services of Andrew Bhandarkar and Jonathan Spillane for the game who remain injured. Other than that, it is a full squad with versatile defender Brendán Frahill set to return.
One of Cobh’s most experienced players is centre back Craig Burns. Burns previously had a spell at the RSC before signing for the Rams last season and he had this to say about the tie, “It’s a must win game for us on Saturday against Waterford! No motivation is needed because it’s a Munster derby. Like us, they’re not on the best run at the moment but we all know form goes out the window in these games. It should be a good game to watch and we’ll do all we can to get the win.”
The Blues have two ex-Rams players in their ranks in the form of strikers Conor Meade and Kynan Rocks. Both will be a handful for the Cobh defence and will be looking to get one over on their old club. The visitors may be without Peter White who is struggling with injury but other than that they should have a full compliment to choose from and will be going all out for the win.
Former Cobh star Meade is enjoying life at Waterford and he spoke about the match beforehand. ” I’m really looking forward to the game. St Colman’s Park is always a tough place to visit for an away side. We will give Cobh the respect that they deserve and it should be a good game.”
The last meeting between the sides was on the final day of last season where Cobh won 2-1 thanks to a Davin O’Neill brace. This denied Waterford a play-off place and that will surely act as motivation for the away side on Saturday.
A large contingent of away fans is expected for the game with it being a derby and there should be a good atmosphere at the game. As always expect goals at St Colman’s Park and it should make for an exciting game. It’s a 7:45 kick-off on Saturday night for the tie.
Referee: Shane Dunphy. Assistants: Ken Hennessy, Trevor Cotter. Fourth Official: Tom Mazur
Venue: St Colman’s Park
Kick Off: 7:45
Preview by Thomas Stafford
