Ramblers manager Shane Keegan elated after securing playoff spot 

WITH the Rams supreme win over Harps enough to guarantee a playoff spot, Shane Keegan was thrilled with the result in his post-match interview with The Echo. “Absolutely delighted,” he begins. “[It was] a ropey first 15 minutes, we conceded a sloppy goal, but [we] responded really well and very quickly as well.

“Even if we hadn’t equalised, I thought our response in the first half was excellent,” Shane says. “The equaliser made life easier, and we headed into the second half with our tails up a bit. I thought our second half display was outstanding.

“I know it helps that they go down to 10, [but] you could [see it coming]. We were knocking it around so well. Some of the football we played in the second half was the best we played all season, there was some absolutely outstanding inter-team play, some superb goals, some superb individual moments.” 

While in the end Cobh Ramblers won in dominant fashion, the game looked like it would take a very different turn when the Rams were a goal down and looked very unconvincing going forward.

“I was [worried], I’d be lying if I said otherwise,” Keegan admits. “I wasn’t just saying it, Harps are a good side. It took until the 85th minute for St Pats to get their winner [and] Pats are one of the best teams in the country.

“Last time we played Finn Harps, they beat us. So, there was absolutely no room for complacency with us. We were bad for the first 15-20 minutes; the goal was really sloppy. We seemed to be losing every second ball, but thankfully as can happen, the goal just seemed to be a smack to the face for us, and it woke us up a little bit.” 

Putting five beyond any team in the division is impressive, and it was a team performance that Keegan was thrilled with.

“Mikie [Rowe] had missed a really good chance just five minutes before he actually got his goal, [but] we responded very well. We marginally tweaked one or two things at half time that we thought we could improve on, and as I say, the second half, I mean it’s hard to know who to praise.

“From the backs up, Justin [Eguaibor]’s run up the field, the interlinking play from Mikie and Jack [Dohery] was fantastic. Luke Desmond comes on and gives a 15-minute cameo that would have you drooling, some of the stuff that he did with the ball!” Keegan laughs. “It just shows where he’s at. It’s just a really, really good night.

“It shows how impressive our lads have been, that they showed that much consistency, because the Treaty’s of this world will be beat you, no different than Finn Harps were perfectly capable of beating us tonight.

“The fact that we look like we could finish this season with a better head-to-head record against every team in this division bar Galway, would be unbelievable going when you look at where we came from last year.”