- Dylan O'Connell
- Tue, Jun 05 2018
In an entertaining stalemate at St. Coleman’s Park, both Galway United and Cobh Ramblers gave everything they had but in the end it finished scoreless.in East Cork. Both teams had plenty of chances to stick the ball in the net but in the end defence was the order of the day.
In an energetic opening, Galway commanded the play, but Cobh remained disciplined and organized with the men from the West left frustrated with the meager space in front of them which prevented so little as a half chance.
Cobh Ramblers were not without their chances though as Andrew Wall powered down the left flank, knitting the ball on the line before shooting softly into the hands of Conor Gleason. Galway from the kick out tried to steer through the Cobh line, with Conor Barry and Carlton Ubaezuonu linking up, but before the killer pass could be played, Ben O’Riordan hoofed the ball to safety. In what was an end to end display from both sides, Cobh tried to match the woven play with their own as Stephen Christopher set up Anthony McAlvey for the spectacular, but his effort was well wide of the target.
From the amounting pressure by the Tribesmen, came the release then for the home side, with McAlvey releasing David Hurley into the centre but his shot drifted wide. This seemed to twist the half in favour of the Ramblers, with another chance being handed to the home side seconds from the kick out. The experience of Darren Murphy playing in for Andrew Wall in the face of goal, but his effort was gathered by Gleeson.
Galway, scattering into their lines from a seemingly regenerated Cobh, seemed to pull off an identical chance to the Ramblers, with Gary Shanahan playing Marc Ludden up, for a rasping shot to be dealt with by Hunt to keep the game at 0-0.
Galway fell into procession for large periods as the second half wound down, but chances where minimal with both teams sent to the dressing room with the game locked at 0-0.
It only took thirty seconds from the restart for the first major chance of the half, with a Denzil Fernandez cross too high for David Hurley, who would have hit it straight into the net from point blank range This seemed to inspire the Rams, who pushed forward into an excellent opportunity once again as Stephen Christopher’s cross fell too short to an unsuspecting Hurley. Frustrated, Cobh poured themselves into the final third and were denied once more as Darren Murphy forced Gleeson to make a stretching save to claw the ball to safety.
The away side feeling the pressure, were not without their own chances as Cobh reorganized. Stephen Kenny played in Eoin McCormack, but Pierce Philips cleared for the Rams. A free kick next served up the visitors with an opportunity to take the lead, but Kenny’s effort from twenty five yards out deflected off the wall to keep things level heading into the final few moments.
A counter for Cobh by right back Kevin Taylor seemed threatening, but a teasing shot was grabbed with little haste from Gleeson in goal. Taylor did not seem to bow to the fine margins, and tested his luck minutes later, with the wing back breaking again, only to cross it in to no man’s land and keep it 0-0.
Cobh applied the pressure into the ninety, using the two minutes to play the ball out onto the edge’s of the area but the vocals of Hunt and the organization from O’Riordan once more kept the Tribesmen confined to long shots, which easily passed wide. In the end, it seemed a fair result on the balance of play for both teams to share the points.
Cobh Ramblers: Paul Hunt; Kevin Taylor, Adam O’Sullivan, Ben O’Riordan, Andrew Wall, Pierce Philips, Darren Murphy, David Hurley, Denzil Fernandez, Anthony McAlvey Stephen Christopher (Matthew Lamb 70).
Subs not used: James McSweeney, Craig Donnellan, Adam Mylod, Jaze Kabia, Stephen O’Connor, Michael Sayds.
Galway United: Conor Gleason; Marc Ludden, Stephen Walsh, Robbie Williams, Stephen Kenny, Ryan Connolly, Conor Melody, Gary Shanahan (Conor Layng 70), Carlton Ubaezuonu (Alan Murphy 50), Eoin McCormack, Conor Barry.
Subs not used: Arek Mamala, Alex Byrne, Ronan Manning, Aaron Conroy.
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Ben O’Riordan.
Referee: Sean Grant.
