2016 Season Review - Cobh Ramblers

Team: Cobh Ramblers

Manager: Stephen Henderson. Dubliner Henderson is a former Ramblers player. He became Cobh manager for the second time in March 2015. Having previously managed the club between 2004 and 2008, Stephen has presided over a recent upsurge in the fortunes of the Rams. Contracted until 2018, Henderson will look next season to continue the improvement as the tenth anniversary of Cobh’s last First Division title looms.

Top Scorer: Shane O’Connor with eight regular season league goals was the Ramblers top goalscorer for 2016. Two of his league goals in 2016 came from the penalty spot. O’Connor also scored in the second leg of the Promotion/Relegation Play-off versus Drogheda United. He netted three times in Cobh’s run to the FAI Cup quarter-finals, bringing the 26 year old’s total to a round dozen in all competitions.

Highest Attendance: Visits by Drogheda United to St. Colman’s Park figure prominently on the Ramblers’ 2016 attendance stats. 497 paid into the 12^th March regular league season encounter between the promotion rivals. Ramblers highest home fixture attendance of the season by far was 1,873 for the first leg of the Promotion/Relegation Play-off meeting with Drogs on 21^st October.

Lowest Attendance: On the other hand, just 244 turned up at St. Colman’s Park on Saturday 9^th July for the other 2016 home First Division match against Drogheda.

Star Player: Shane O’Connor started and finished 24 of Ramblers regular season league games and contributed those twelve goals from midfield in all competitions. The former Ipswich and Limerick player has been hugely influential for Ramblers during the past two seasons.

Best Young Player: In July, 19-year-old Connor Ellis joined Cobh Ramblers on loan from Cork City until the end of the 2016 season. He made an immediate impact, scoring a fine goal in a 1-1 draw against UCD on his debut. Connor contributed some telling goals in Cobh’s push for promotion and during their FAI Cup run, including a penalty conversion, which sparked Ramblers’ second half comeback against Pats.

Best New Signing: Connor Ellis apart, it probably has to be Markus Gustavsson for this honour, although the Swede moved on in the summer. Gustavsson scored five league goals and led the line efficiently for two-thirds of the league campaign.

What we expected they would do: Approximately fifth place was the collective view of the extratime.ie contributors at the start of the season (see here). This reporter in his season preview of the Ramblers (see here) suggested third place. That’s how it finished up but Ramblers went mighty close to doing even better.

What they actually did: Ramblers overcame a six-point deficit in the last five matches to overhaul UCD and finish third in the First Division table behind runaway champions Limerick and Drogheda. Ramblers earned a maximum 15 points from their final five games to jump from fourth place to third. A 2-0 home defeat to the Co. Louth side in the first leg of the Promotion/Relegation Play-off was a big blow. To Ramblers credit they had levelled the tie within nine minutes of the second leg, only for Gareth McCaffrey to seal Drogheda’s place in the play-off against Wexford Youths. FAI Cup quarter-finalists was a satisfactory return although the Cobh men would probably like to have the first half at Inchicore back.  Honourable mention to the against Rockmount. Ramblers did win the Munster Senior Cup for the first time in 30 years. Goals from Jonathan Creamer and Andy O’Connell clinched a 2-1 final win against Rockmount.

What they need to improve on for next year: Ramblers need to bring a couple of strikers into their squad that can find the net consistently.

Retaining Shane O’Connor is a must. Ramblers just won the Under 17 Shield so the future looks bright.  Perhaps Cobh need to recruit a few experienced defenders to bolster the undoubted youth potential.

St. Colman’s Park is in good shape and recently hosted international football - a Euro Under 17s women’s qualifier between Belarus and the Faroe Islands. Ramblers need to make it a fortress for visiting sides to face during the 2017 campaign.

#GreatestLeagueInTheWorld moment of season: The home support chanting “Champions of Munster” on Saturday 1^st October. That was in celebration of second half strikes from Shane O’Connor and Rob Lehane, which gave Ramblers a 2-0 home victory over Limerick.  Cobh Ramblers thus became the only team to beat Limerick during the 2016 league season.