Cobh Ramblers: Fencing design prevented injuries in FAI Cup game with Cork City

THERE were worrying scenes at St Colman’s Park on Sunday in the aftermath of the Cork City winning goal against Cobh Ramblers in the FAI Cup as a fence collapsed in the away end.

A goal from Ruairí Keating secured City’s place in the next round, but the headlines were taken up by the events seconds later.

Cobh Ramblers have issued a statement in response to the issue.

"As a club, the safety of all our patrons is the most important consideration in every game.

"We are thankful that nobody was injured when a section of our pitch fencing collapsed yesterday in the area occupied by the Cork City fans as they celebrated a goal. We could never have foreseen such a large surge forward onto the fence but we are satisfied that its collapsible design prevented any injury.

"A greater dispersion of Cork City fans specifically in this area was advisable and we recognise this. There was sufficient space in this terraced area to allow for greater dispersion, specifically behind the dugouts and there was a joint responsibility here.

"Critically the allocation of families to the seated Liam McMahon stand prevented any children from being present during the surge.

As part of our debrief of the game, we will action any learnings for us. Finally, we would like to thank the Gardai, the Cork City staff and FAI representative and our own volunteers for their timely reactions."

For Cobh, the cup dream is over but boss Shane Keegan felt there were positives to take from the defeat.

“If you had given me that game coming down, if you told me there was going to be that little in it, I would have taken that and I would have thought we would have been capable of getting something out of it.

“Cork are such a good side and yet Darragh Burke hasn’t had to make a save in the game. So we limited them.

“Now you could argue on the flip side that they limited us equally, if not better. We had a good few decent shooting opportunities from around the edge in the first half.

“We probably didn’t have those as much in the second half. We are probably a bit disappointed that we didn’t manage to create a huge amount in the second half.

“I think just both teams cancelled each other out in the second half, which to Cork to be fair to them was enough to get over the line.

“There was a lot of positives for us, but a lot of frustration.”