Friday night sees another clash of these two Munster sides currently occupying two of the four First Division play-off spots. Keith Long’s men sit second in the table, fifteen points off leaders Galway, while the Rams are a further thirteen points back, five points clear of Athlone in third place.
Ramblers come into the tie on the back of a valuable 1-0 win at home to closest rivals Athlone. Jack Doherty’s stunning free-kick proved the difference last time out in St Colman’s Park. The Blues meanwhile were 4-0 victors at Finn Harps in their last outing. Cobh were 1-0 winners when the sides last met, Wilson Waweru scoring the only goal at St Colman’s back in June. Both other meetings in 2023 went the way of the Suirsiders and Ramblers last win at the RSC came in April 2016.
The Rams do have ex-Waterford men Jack Doherty and Cian Browne in their ranks, as well as the on-loan Liam Kervick and Dean Larkin who are ineligible for this game as a result. James O’Leary made a welcome return to the replacement’s last week while Charlie O’Brien is back from international U19 duty. Pierce Phillips however is absent through injury for the tie.
Cobh manager Shane Keegan spoke about the game earlier in the week,
“I think Waterford are a serious side. They have a huge amount of quality and they’re going to go into the play-offs absolutely nailed on as the firmest favourites. That’s the challenge we’re up against but at the same time we can’t really be in a better place in terms of our own mentality, our own confidence levels. We’ll give it a decent crack.”
Kick-off in the Waterford RSC is at 19:45 on Friday night, with the game streamed live on LOITV.
