Travelling from Cork to a place like Ballybofey, or any other long journey on the day of a match, is never a good idea, as Cobh Ramblers found out last Friday night when they travelled to Finn Park to take on Finn Harps who were playing their first Airtricity First Division home game of the season.
It was be all about the points for Peter Hutton’s Harps, who after a recent 1-1 draw away to Waterford Utd went all out for the win against a Ramblers side on the back of a 5-0 win over Wexford Youths the previous week. Sean McCarron opened the scoring after four minutes and McHugh added the second minutes later. Both goals were down to defensive errors from Cobh Ramblers.
Ramblers hit back on the 28th minute through Conor Meade but any chance of keeping the scoreline at that before half time was cancelled out by McCarron’s second of the night and Harps were 3-1 up at the break. Opportunities were plentyful for both sides in the second half but it was the Ballybofey side who had the majority of possession and McHugh’s second of the night sent the East Cork side packing with a 4-1 defeat.
Ramblers now face another long journey to Athlone on March 23rd followed by a home game against league leaders Longford Town on Saturday 30th March at 7.45pm
Finn Harps: Ciraran Gallagher; Damien McNulty, Thomas McMonagle, Keith Cowan, Matthew Crossan; Paul McVeigh, Michael Funston, Shaun McGowan (Thomas Bonner 90), Marc Brolly; Sean McCarron (Aaron O?Hagan 54), Kevin McHugh.
Cobh Ramblers: Robert Birdsdall; Ian Long, Brian Fitzgerald, Gary Collins, John Meade; Alan O?Flynn (Jason Carson 70), Andrew Bhandarker, Michael O?Shea, Martin Deady; Davin O?Neill, Conor Meade.
