Southern Division down to the wire
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It is all down to the wire in Airtricity U19 League Southern Division this Sunday as the destination of the title will be decided.
Cobh Ramblers and Limerick FC are now in a shoot-out for the crown. Ramblers sit top of the division with 33 points and the Shannonsiders are just two points behind.
Both sides have scored the same amount of goals and just two goals separate the contenders on goal difference.
Tralee Dynamos stand in Cobh’s way and had they not suffered the disappointment of a narrow defeat by Athlone last weekend they too could have claimed the title after an intriguing campaign.
If Cobh beat their Kerry rivals Niall Abbott’s youngsters are champions. Declan Farmer’s Limerick side face Athlone Town knowing they need to win their game and hope that Tralee can at least hold Ramblers to a draw – and that they can turn around the two goal swing in the goal difference stakes.
The majority of the Cobh team are still eligible again next year and won the SFAI National Cup at under-16 level last year under Abbott – who has worked with this group of players since they were six year olds.
“Of the side that won the National Cup, 11 of them had been with me since they first turned up as kids and they’ve obviously developed a great understanding as a team,” said Abbott.
“This is a really big game for the club. We can’t wait for it and it should be a great game as in my opinion Tralee Dynamos are the best footballing team in the division.
“They have 16 players who’ve come through the emerging talent programme whereas we have just two players who’ve been on the Cork emerging talent programme.
“It’s been a very interesting division. Our one blip was a 5-0 defeat to Limerick on an artificial pitch but we’ve trained all the way through since July 5 last year and didn’t even take a break for Christmas so the work that the lads have put in has been marvellous.”
The Ramblers boss highlights the performances of goalkeeper Shane Halahan and defender Eoin Hastings in helping Cobh to conceding just one home goal all season as being a crucial part of their success story this season.
Abbott’s son Jason has been pivotal in midfield while strikers Josh Murphy and David Santry have scored vital goals all through the campaign.
Cobh recently beat Limerick 3-0 but Limerick Declan Farmer knows that football has often thrown up unusual situations when they side trailing in a title race emerges with the trophy at the death.
“We’ve had a very enjoyable season and a lot of the lads have shown that they can be contenders to be first team players at the club in the long term,” said the Limerick coach.
“Cobh have a tough task because Tralee know that they have to win to get the second spot, should we slip up ourselves against Athlone. It’s about as tight a finish as you can get.
“When I took over two weeks before the start of the season we had just 12 players and I’ve been thrilled with how the lads have developed. To be in contention for promotion to the Elite Division at this stage is a tremendous achievement for the lads.
“The likes of Stephen McGahan, Barry Sheedy, James McGrath, Cian Collins and Colin Daly have all proven themselves to be players of excellent potential.”
Tralee boss Noel Whyte has equally been pleased with how his side has fared this year and particularly how close they came to winning the division themselves.
“In our league campaign we’ve beaten everybody at least once except for Cobh so that’s an incentive in itself for us to win on Sunday,” he said.
“We’re disappointed that we didn’t perform to our capabilities against Athlone last Sunday to stay in contention but we looked out of it in November then produced six wins in a row to really turn things around.
“We’ve the smallest panel in this league but we’ve shown that there is real talent in Kerry and that the FAI was right to put an Emerging Talent Programme in our county. With Kingdom Boys continuing to produce many top class players the future is strong for our team in this league.
“Many of our lads would have played underage with the likes of Anthony Forde (Wolves) and Gary O’Neill (Aston Villa) and in recent years the club has produced players that combined have amassed over 150 international appearances at all ages.
“The likes of Paul White, Adam Piggott and Uros Ivkovic have been capped at different levels for Ireland and they’ve been important assets for us.
“Cork and Kerry are well known for their sporting rivalries so I’m sure our game against Cobh will have a good derby feel and if Ramblers are to win the title it’ll be by doing it in the right way.”
View the U19 Southern Division Table
View Cobh Ramblers results to date
