Cobh Ramblers look to keep their unbeaten league run intact on Saturday night as promotion chasing Cabinteely visit St Colman’s Park. The Rams’ last league defeat came in early July at Drogheda and wins over Limerick, Shelbourne and Athlone mean that a win over the Dublin side will push Cobh up to sixth in the table.

Cabinteely themselves come into the tie on the back of a shock league defeat at home to Galway United. That was their first league defeat since May, a run that leaves them well-placed in fourth for a play-off push.

The Rams are yet to defeat Cabo this campaign and last tasted victory over the Stradbrook outfit in May 2018. The sides played out a 2-2 draw in their last meeting in the capital with Cabinteely winning the other two clashes this year.

In terms of team news, manager Stuart Ashton will be without the suspended defensive duo of Charlie Lyons and Kevin Taylor. Matt Lamb will also miss out having picked up a knock in training this week. James McSweeney will be assessed closer to kick-off but looks unlikely to feature. Furthermore, Ben O’Riordan has been sidelined with illness over the week and may miss out. There are minor concerns over striker Cian Leonard who continues to shake off a knock. Stuart has also confirmed that goalkeeper Adam Mylod has departed the club by mutual agreement, in order to get further game time. U19 netminder Arthur Nganou will provide cover Paul Hunt for the remainder of the campaign.

Arthur isn’t the only U19 player amongst the senior setup and Ashton is very pleased with the progress of the younger players. The likes of Cameron Harlson, Andrew Cronin and Jamie O’Sullivan among others have played a key role of late and he is understandably excited by their talents, “They are in there on their merits and hopefully they will keep pushing for the remainder of the season, even pressing for a place in the starting eleven.”

Regarding the game, Ashton expects a tough test from a Cabinteely side who have vastly improved in 2019, “The league table shows how they have gone this season. They are always competitive with Pat Devlin and Eddie Gormley and they will be well-drilled, well-organised. They’re pushing to be in the promotion shake-up, that’s their aim coming down here. We’re looking forward to a competitive, and hopefully entertaining, game to keep  this good run going and keep progressing as a team.”

Kick-off on Saturday night is at 7pm in St Colman’s Park.

By Thomas Stafford.