Cobh sink City at the Cross in Cork derby

By Donncha Noonan | Photo: Kevin Barry-Dorney

Off the back of a disappointing draw away to Bray last time out, City returned home as they geared up to host local rivals Cobh Ramblers, in this year's second installment of the Cork Derby. In what was City’s worst performance of the season, it was Cobh who took all three points and handed the hosts their first loss of the season, courtesy of a Dylan McGlade penalty.

Just the one change for City in this one, with Cillian Murphy dropping out and being replaced by Ruairi Keating.

Fran Rockett made three changes to his side that lost 2-0 to Wexford last week. Lucas Curtin, Wilson Waweru and Cal Honohan all came out, with Garry Buckley, Anthony Adenopo and Mikey Carroll stepping into the team.

City started the first half decently in terms of going forward, and could have taken the lead after fourteen minutes. A long ball from Conor Brann went deep into the Cobh half, where it was flicked in behind by Seani Maguire. Ruairi Keating latched onto it and tried to flick it past the oncoming Timo Martin, but the Luxembourg native did well to block the shot with his outstretched arm.

Martin was called to the rescue again two minutes later. A floated ball over the top of the left hand side found the feet of Seani Maguire. He curled a ball into the box which found the incoming run of Ruairi Keating, who sidefooted it goalward but again Timo Martin was there to keep the game level.

After a flurry of early chances, City seemed to be ruing those misses as they began to become sluggish and lackadaisical, which provided a route back into the game for Cobh, one which they almost took advantage of in the thirty-second minute. Luka Le Bervet hung a cross into the City box after a cleared long throw. Garry Buckley came barreling in and got his head to it, but the header dropped just wide of the left hand post.

City did come close again on the stroke of half time. Ruairi Keating picked up the ball on the right hand side. He danced in and out of Cobh defenders before unleashing a shot that whistled narrowly over the top right corner of Timo Martin’s goal.

That was that for the first half as Cobh held City fairly comfortably after the opening twenty minutes, meaning it was 0-0 going into the second forty-five.

City continued to struggle in the second half, and Cobh almost took full advantage of a bizarre error in the fifty-sixth minute. Under pressure from the Cobh forward line, Charlie Lyons tried to backheel it to a City teammate, but instead it rolled into the path of Adenopo. He squared it to Rhys Brennan who tried to curl it into the top right corner, but his effort flew narrowly over the bar.

Cobh’s good play finally paid off with fifteen minutes to play. After a ball in the box, Conor Drinan tried to clear it away, but it rattled off the arm of Fiacre Kelleher. The referee pointed to the spot with no hesitation, and Dylan McGlade stepped up and rolled the ball into the right hand side of the goal before multiple Ramblers players goaded The Shed in celebration.

Startled by the seemingly inevitable goal, City went in search of an equaliser, and came close in the eighty-sixth minute. An in-swinging Harry Nevin cross from the right hand side found the head of Seani Maguire, but City’s front-man could only direct his effort narrowly wide of the left hand post.

The Leesiders had one final roll of the dice with a minute gone of added time. AJ Bridge swung in a corner which was met by the head of Fiacre Kelleher on the penalty spot. He diverted the ball towards the bottom right corner, but the ball bounced just past the woodwork.

That would bring a demoralising game from a City perspective to an end. City were actually fairly ok in the first twenty minutes, and probably should've been two goals up considering the amount of chances they had, but as soon as they dried up, so did City's play. Instead of the expansive and fiery play that we've seen at times this year, it was a slow and unimaginative approach from the hosts for a large majority of the game. Because of this, it gave Cobh room to play the way they wanted, and all in all probably deserved the goal that they got. People will inevitably compare this to the Cabinteely result from a few years back. I’m not going to necessarily dispute that to be honest because in terms of expectation, it was a result that was just as eye-opening as that one was.

My Man of the Match goes to Cobh goalkeeper Timo Martin. As much as Cobh were impressive at times outfield, it was really keeper Timo Martin that drove them to this win. Some of the crucial saves made by him in the early and late parts of the game became catalysts to the resilience shown by the visitors in keeping City at bay and grinding out the win.

Due to the Bank Holiday weekend, it's a quick turnaround for both teams, as City travel to Tralee to take on Kerry FC on Monday, As for Cobh, they'll return home to host UCD.