IT'S second against third in the League of Ireland First Division this Friday night at St Colman’s Park with Cobh Ramblers set to host an inform Bray Wanderers team.

Just one point separates them going into the game, and the two sides will be looking for a win that will help them keep up with Galway United at the top of the table.

Cobh prepared for this by coming from two goals down last week in Ballybofey and getting a point on the road at Finn Harps.

The Ramblers trailed from the first minute through Seamus Keogh and Filip Da Silva made it two with just 13 minutes on the clock at Finn Park. It seemed like nothing was going Cobh’s way after Jack Doherty missed a penalty, but they kept going and two second-half goals from the forward made sure that they left Donegal with a point.

That was their second result in five days as they beat Treaty United 3-2 that Monday in the semi-finals of the Munster Senior Cup at Jackman Park in Limerick.

This means that the Ramblers have lost just once all season, and that was the 2-0 defeat to Galway on St Patrick’s Day at St Colman’s Park. They immediately rectified that by getting the win in Limerick and a point in Donegal, and now they want to make a statement in front of their home fans at St Colman’s Park.

Bray Wanderers are undefeated in 2023 and this has helped them pick up 12 points from their opening six games. 

They also qualified for the semi-finals of the Leinster Senior Cup by beating Shamrock Rovers, and now they are 90 minutes away from their first cup final in 13 years.

GOODWILL

The Seagulls are surrounded by a feeling of goodwill, with everybody around the club sensing that they are going in the right direction under new manager Ian Ryan. This is a total transformation from the Bray Wanderers that Cobh knew last year, as the club only won six games in all competitions in 2022.

Bray’s most recent game was against Wexford FC and Ben Feeney made it 1-0 after just six minutes. Then Aaron Dobbs and Ethan Boyle scored and the visitors to the Carsile Grounds went 2-1 up. Bray didn’t panic and Feeney’s second tied the game up before Cole Omorehiomwan scored the winner in the 70th minute.

The previous week they were 2-0 down to promotion rivals Waterford FC with just over a quarter of the game played at the RSC, and goals from Feeney and Max Murphy helped them snatch a point in the southeast.

If a team comes back once, it can be seen as an isolated result, but there’s certainly some pattern when it happens twice in a week.

Cobh have a similar sense of momentum given their start to the season. This means that something will have to give when the two teams go head-to-head under the lights on Friday at St Colman’s Park.