Cork Derby Part III – Match Preview

Friday night sees Ramblers travel to Turners Cross for the third, and final, Cork Derby of the 2021 First Division season.

Both sides come into the fixture in strong runs of form, Cobh unbeaten in four and Cork unbeaten in five. With the clubs sitting eighth and ninth respectively in the table, now is the the time to put those runs together in the hope of reaching the play-off spots.

Ramblers drew 0-0 at home to Athlone last time out while City were 3-2 winners in Galway. The opening Derby of the year on Matchday 1 saw Cork win 2-1, while more recently in St Colman’s Park the Rams were 1-0 victors after a Jake Hegarty winner.

Cobh’s last Derby win at the Cross came in the League Cup, back in May 2006.

For Ramblers the task will be made tougher without last week’s starting centre backs Charlie Lyons and Ben O’Riordan, who are both suspended after picking up red cards against Athlone. Conor Drinan, Ciaran Griffin and Pierce Phillips will be assessed after missing last weekend.

Manager Darren Murphy spoke ahead of the game, which comes against a club where he spent two spells at as a player,

“It’ll be a tough game. Derby games are always that way. Both clubs want to progress and push up the table, putting Cork football back on the map. It’s a chance to go out and perform, give it our all and show what we’re capable of.

We’ve done our homework. We’ve a very talented squad, our position in the table doesn’t reflect that. We’re looking forward to a great game. It’s a big one for both sides. We’re putting runs together to push up the table, not to finish where we are. I don’t think anyone is happy with their position in the table unless you’re top, that goes for second and third as well.”

Midfielder David O’Leary also spoke about the tie, against one of his former sides,

“There hasn’t been much between us in the last two games. The first game we were probably the better side and came out with a loss. The second game could have went either way and we came away with the win. We’ve nothing to fear and we’ve shown that in the last few weeks. The confidence is high and we’ll bring that into the game.

Throughout the season these are the games that I look forward to the most. There’ll be a great buzz around the place and I’m looking forward to it. The new backroom staff have brought in some new ideas and we’re all on-board with their ethos. We’re all really enjoying it.”

The game is live on LOITV here, kicking off at 19:45 on Friday night. Tickets for the game are sold out, including our away allocation.

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Cobh Ramblers FC

Cobh Ramblers Football Club is an Irish football club. The club, founded in 1922 and elected to the League of Ireland in 1985, hails from Cobh, County Cork and play their home matches at St. Colman's Park. The club's colours are claret and blue.