Cobh Ramblers' Jason Abbott thrilled with Munster Senior Cup triumph

COBH were crowned Munster Senior Cup champions for the second consecutive season, and seventh time overall when they defeated Cork City 3-1 in Turner’s Cross on Monday night.

In a year where the Rams have dramatically exceeded expectations and currently sit third in the First Division, captain Jason Abbott discusses the key to their success so far, and how they plan to push on in a year where they are in with a real chance of promotion.

“I just think that everyone's in it together,” Abbott begins. “I think Shane made great signings at the start of the year, and then added to that recently with the new lads.

“We set goals at the start of the year to try and make the playoffs, at the moment we're in it. There's still a long way to go and a lot can change in football, but everyone is striving towards the same goal.

“Shane and his team of lads have been excellent training and everything else, but equally the players, everyone wanted to get to the playoffs at the start of the year.

“Did we think we'd be doing this well? Probably not,” he admits. “We just have to keep it up now and keep driving on. Everyone's firmly feet on the ground. 

We still have a lot of work to do to make sure that we're in the playoffs, but everyone's ready and prepared to do that.

Reflecting on Monday night’s cup win over their Cork rivals, Abbott explains just how important it is for everyone at the club.

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“That means a lot. We're after doing it now two years in a row and [it] more or less saved our season for last year. Obviously, we did very poorly in the league, and it was nice to win the cup last year on the 100th anniversary, so we wanted to retain that this year.

“It means a lot to the volunteers of the club and the committee. After the game, they all came in for the photo, so it's not just the players and the management. There's a lot of people involved behind the scenes, up around the club, people who supported the club for years who were in the club house last night, so it means a lot to them.

“Look at the end of the day, there's only two cups that you can compete with this year. One is the Munster Senior Cup and the other is the FAI Cup and unfortunately, we're knocked out of that,” Jason explains. “So, we wanted to win the Munster Senior Cup and luckily, we did that then last night.” 

On a night where City rotated most of their squad, it’s hardly an excuse for defeat when Cobh did much of the same.

“I think if you look at our team as well, there were a lot of our young lads playing as well. Like Adrien [Thibaut] came on last night and got a great goal for himself. Charlie [Cummins] came on with 10 minutes to go and made a great senior debut as well.

With Galway United up next in a tough away game, Jason remains confident that his side can get over the final hurdle and fight in the playoffs come the end of the year.

“It’s obviously tough going up to Galway, but it's a game that we’re excited for, and the cup win is definitely a boost. We picked up a couple of draws there in the last couple of weeks, but only lost one game. We just need to turn those draws into wins.”