30-05-2025
First Division wrap: Cobh Ramblers edge Treaty to stay second
Cobh Ramblers are second in the SSE Airtricity Men's First Division at the mid-season break following a 2-1 victory Treaty United at St Coleman's Park.
Barry Coffey got the winner and earned the Munster derby bragging rights.
Cian Murphy had home the opener before the visitors equalised with an own goal after the break.
The Ramblers went into the game six points off league leaders Dundalk and looking to extend their winning streak to three games in all competitions, which includes a recent victory over Rockmount in the Munster Senior Cup final.
Treaty were in a similar position after seeing off UCD and Longford Town in recent weeks, which saw Tommy Barrett's side tally nine goals over 180 minutes.
There was a real feel of two forces meeting on Friday and when it came to it, Cobh struck first.
Waterford native Shane Griffin set that up with a defence splitting pass and Murphy finished with the inside of his left boot in just the third minute.
The Shannonsiders responded well, with chances falling to Karl O'Sullivan and Trpimir Vrljicak, and neither was able to test Timothy Martin.
Treaty United went on to dominate possession, while Cobh retreated and cut off passing lanes. This forced Barrett's side to go wide, and the height of Cian Coleman and , Brendeán Frahill helped kept the home side's lead intact at the break.
McDermott went defensive in a bid to further contain their Limerick rivals, and this included replacing David Bosnjak with John O'Donovan and move to a back five that has Nolan Evers and Luka Le Brevet as wing backs.
Just as they settled, Coleman bundled in a Treaty free-kick and the two teams were level in the 49th minute.
This feeling of a new start did not last as Cobh went back in front in the 53rd minute after Coffey got into space and fired in at the Liam McMahon Stand.
The Ramblers could have made it 3-1 with their next spell inside the box after Waterford's Shane Griffin put a low ball in, but this was flicked wide by Murphy.
The would-be-scorer followed that up by setting up Coffey on the penalty spot and his shot lacked conviction in the 82nd minute.
Barrett brought on Yousef Mahdy and Colin Conroy in a bid to ignite something late on, and Cobh continued to hold firm.
It finished as a comfortable win for the home side, who hardly saw Timothy Martin tested.
Cobh Ramblers: Timothy Martin; Luka Le Bervet, Cian Coleman, Brendeán Frahill, Nolan Evers, Niall O'Keeffe, Shane Griffin, David Bosnjak (John O'Donovan HT), Barry Coffe, Samuel Belis (Matthew Whelan 83), Cian Murphy.
Treaty United: Corey Chambers; Evan O'Connor (Richkov Boevi 86), Robbie Lynch, Eoin Martin, Lee Lynch (Nikodem Kozlowski 57), Connor Wilson (Colin Conroy 86), Steven Healy (77), Benjamin Lynch, Trpimir Vrljicak (Youself Mahdy), Lee Devitt, Karl O'Sullivan.
Elsewhere Dundalk maitained their six-point lead at the top as they stormed back to edge a five-goal thriller against Wexford at Ferrycarrig Park.
Leo Gaxha put the Lilywhites ahead in the 13th minute but the hosts levelled four minutes later through Darragh Levingston, and were 2-1 up at the break when Mikie Rowe found the net in the 43rd minute.
Dean Ebbe made it 2-2 in the 73rd minute and Vincent Leonard completed the comeback four minutes from the end as Ciaran Kilduff's men stayed on track for promotion.
Bray Wanderers swept past Finn Harps 3-1 to stay third. Gavin Hosgins fired Harps in front after ten minutes but the Seagulls had too much for their visitors.
Billy O'Neill (26) and Max Murphy (32) had Bray 2-1 by half-time; Danu Kinsella Bishop's 82nd-minute effort wrapped it up.
Two second-hald Sean Breen goals, in the 54th and 74th minutes, helped UCD to get past Athlone Town 2-0, while Kerry beat ten-man Longford Town 2-0 thanks to Luke Palmer (44) and Sean McGrath (53) efforts. Eric Yoro saw red when conceding the penalty McGrath dispatched.
