Ramblers face ninth place Finn Harps this week, with the Rams travelling to Donegal looking to stretch our unbeaten run to six games. Last week we held league leaders Galway to a 1-1 draw in St Colman’s Park. That run of form now sees Cobh sit third in the table, four points clear of Athlone Town.

Harps come into the tie on the back of a 0-0 stalemate with Bray, with the Donegal men on a run of one win in six. The Rams last travelled to Ballybofey in March, where Jack Doherty’s second half double rescued a point having been 2-0 down early on. The return affair at St Colman’s saw a resounding 4-1 win for Shane Keegan’s side, Liam Kervick (2), Charlie Lyons and James O’Leary all scoring.

Both sides have been busy in the transfer market of late. For Cobh, Alec Byrne and Matt McKevitt made their debuts last week and the Harps tie could see new arrivals Luke Casey, Dean Larkin and Mikie Rowe follow suit. Harps boss Dave Rogers has bolstered his squad with a number of new additions, including the return of BJ Banda and Tony McNamee.

Ramblers will be without the suspended Darragh O’Sullivan Connell, while Tiernan O’Brien is also unavailable. Wilson Waweru, Jason Abbott and Brendeán Frahill should return however having missed the Galway tie. James O’Leary remains absent through injury, while Jack Doherty is a doubt having also missed the Galway clash through injury.

Alan Patchell is the referee for Friday’s game, with kick-off at 8pm. The game  will be streamed live on LOITV.

Form Guide:

Finn Harps: D/L/W/L/L/D
Cobh Ramblers: L/W/W/W/W/D

By Glenn Farrelly