League Report: UCD 0 - 1 Cobh Ramblers

Second met third at the Belfield Bowl in UCD on Friday evening and those in attendance were treated to an enthralling encounter which was very much reflective of these positions.

The opening stages were extremely tight. UCD edged the possession and looked to exploit what little space they could find with third man runners and quick passing. However much of this was ably snuffed out by the Cobh defence who were well marshalled by goalkeeper Paul Hunt all night.

There were little in the way of clear cut chances in the first half, so much so, that the main talking points were a couple of heavy tackles in the centre of midfield. In the 27^th minute Gary O’Neill received a stern talking to from the referee having won the ball, albeit with too much aggression. Cian Coleman received a yellow card minutes later for a similar foul, however his timing was poor and he could have little complaint with the sanction.

The first clear cut chance fell to UCD just after the half hour. For once Cobh failed to clear their lines and the ball fell to Daire O’Connor. His mishit shot sat up invitingly for Georgie Kelly, and while his contact was sweeter, Hunt was able to get solid contact on the strike before Cobh cleared their lines. This seemed to sting the away team into action and Niall Corbett had to be athletic in the College goal to deny Ben O’Riordan’s header from a Cobh free kick.

The half ended with a further chance for the home side. They turned over possession in the middle of the park and broke rapidly down the left. Jason McClelland’s whipped cross was almost perfect, but Kelly couldn’t stretch to make contact.

The second half was no less attrition, although both teams were still finding chances in some guise or another. McClelland and O’Neill had decent attempts which were matched by Matthew Whelan and Ian Mylod for Ramblers. Despite this, the game was still dominated by the defences. The midfield battle was relentless, particularly the one on one between Coleman and Greg Slogett, as both sides fought for any sort of advantage.

On 78 minutes the breakthrough came. UCD’s high defensive line was exposed for once when a long ball was chased down and finished by Whelan. In truth there was a lot to admire about this goal. The initial footrace between Scales and Whelan was narrowly edged by the striker, who then did well to stay on his feet, while showing great strength to hold off the centre back. Once he had positioned himself, the finish was a matter of course as the Ballincollig man buried his shot past Corbett. It was just rewards for Whelan himself, who had showed some nice touches and link up play throughout the game in what was a tough lone striker role tonight.

As the game wound down, Cobh continued to approach their task with gusto and seemed to relish snuffing out the Students attempts to find a way back into the game. Collie O’Neill may be worried by his team’s lack of penetration in the second half, but in truth UCD were worn down by a hungry and resilient Cobh side. This result should add momentum to the mix.

UCD: Niall Corbett; Daniel Tobin (Josh Collins 80), Evan Osam, Maxi Kouogon, Liam Scales; Jason McClelland, Greg Slogett, Gary O’Neill, Daire O’Connor; Georgie Kelly, Ben Hanrahan.

Subs not used: Conor Kearns, Sean Coyne, Cian Kavanagh, Sean Byrne, Gareth Coughlan, Rob Manley

Booked: None

Sent Off: None

Cobh Ramblers: Paul Hunt; Charlie Fleming, Kyle McNamee, Ben O’Riordan, James McSweeney; Cian Coleman; Stephen Christopher, Craig Donnelan, Jason Abbott, Ian Mylod; Matthew Whelan (Dean Swords 89)

Subs not used: Michal Sayds. Shane Lowth, Anthony O’Donnell, Scott McCarthy, Darren Murphy

Booked: Cian Coleman, James McSweeney

Sent Off: None

Attendance:  500 (Estimate)

ExtraTime.ie Man of the Match: Matthew Whelan (Cobh Ramblers)

Referee: Damien MacGraith