Cobh Ramblers continued their remarkable run this weekend with a 2-0 victory at home to Wexford. Goals from new arrival Aaron Drinan and captain Chris McCarthy secured the win at a cold St Colman’s Park. They have now picked up 13 of the 15 points available in their last five games and are unbeaten since early December.
The Rams dominated the game early on with George Gill the first to test Rob Kehoe in the Youths goal. The midfielder was returning to the side from suspension and produced a fine save out of the ‘keeper with a ferocious volley. Stephen Christopher and David O’Connor also drew saves from Kehoe early on. Aaron Drinan was next to try his luck when he rounded Kehoe but found his effort cleared away by the covering defender. Cobh almost took the lead from the resulting corner when centre back Adam O’Sullivan cannoned a volley off the crossbar. Former Carrigaline striker Drinan was impressive on his home debut and gave Ramblers the lead on 37 minutes. Stephen Christopher beat his man excellently before playing the ball across the six-yard box for Drinan to score his second in as many games. The visitors failed to threaten Eoghan Daly in the Cobh goal throughout the half and were possibly relieved to only be one goal down at the break.
The Wexford side was overhauled at the break with manager Mark Ross making four changes. Dan Brennan, Ivan Meenan, Jordan Brett and Andrew Wall were all introduced as Youths looked to improve on their first half showing. The replacements had the desired effect with Brett in particular looking impressive in midfield. However, despite controlling the centre of the park, Wexford were found lacking up front and struggled to test Eoghan Daly. Ramblers went very close to doubling their lead when George Gill’s header was magnificently cleared off the line and the game began to stretch as the half wore on. The quality of the game dropped somewhat though and neither side failed to create any further chances of note until the final ten minutes. Cobh substitute Brendan Kenny had a goal disallowed for offside after some impressive build-up play. The win was made certain in the 90th minute when Cobh were awarded a straightforward penalty. Aaron Drinan was facing away from goal but was hacked down in the box to leave referee Jim McKell with no alternative but to award the spot kick. Captain Chris McCarthy stepped up and applied an exquisite “Pirlo” finish to make sure of the win. The final whistle was blown moments later, with Cobh running out 2-0 victors.
Ramblers maintain third position in the league after the impressive win whilst Wexford remain in eighth, in what is fast becoming a very clustered league table. Second place Limerick sit on 28 points and the gap to Wexford is only ten points.
Cobh have played more games than all the sides chasing them but if this form is maintained, a play-off position is definitely on the cards come the end of the season. For Wexford, the play-offs look to be beyond them at this stage but anything can happen as clubs enter the final few weeks of the campaign. Leaders Waterford are the only club assured of a play-off spot and the likes of Cork City, UCD and Shamrock Rovers will all have a big say in who earns the remaining play-off spots.
Next up for the Rams is a trip to the Capital to face Shamrock Rovers while Youths host table-toppers Waterford in the South-East derby.
Cobh Ramblers: Eoghan Daly, Dylan Walsh, Adam O’Sullivan, David O’Connor, David King, Chris McCarthy, George Gill, Alex O’Brien (Brendan Kenny 65), Shane Daly-Butz, Stephen Christopher (Ben O’Riordan 91), Aaron Drinan
Substitutes: Patrick Cronin, Charlie Fleming, Ruairà Cotter, Jacob Buris, Kevin McNally
Wexford Youths: Rob Kehoe, Stephen Kelly, Ryan Delaney, Conor Sutton, Ross O’Connor, Conor Maher (Andrew Wall 45), Eoin Delaney, Dean Cornally (Ivan Meenan 45), David Doyle (Paudric Murphy 69), Paul Brennan (Jordan Brett 45), Darren Dempsey (Dan Brennan 45)
Report: Thomas Stafford
