Cobh Ramblers come from behind to beat Douglas Hall in Munster Senior Cup semi final

Douglas Hall 1

Cobh Ramblers 3

Cobh Ramblers are through to the Munster Senior Cup final following 3-1 come from behind victory over Douglas Hall at Moneygourney.

Mick McDermott and his players will now wait for the winner of the bout between Rockmount and defending champions Waterford FC, with their match-up set to be played next month in Whitechurch.

The Ramblers went into the game looking to extend an eight game unbeaten run in all competitions and they had the worst possible start as Brian Holland gave Douglas Hall an early lead.

Nolan Evers equalised before the break and goals from birthday boy Jason Abbott and Oscar Ahern made sure of the win.

The Ramblers are now one game away from winning the trophy for the third time in four seasons, following victories over Cork City in 2022 and 2023.

As for Douglas Hall, this brings an end to a memorable campaign that saw the club get the better of Temple United, Cobh Wanderers, and Passage AFC.

The Munster Senior League side were determined to give nothing away on home soil, and record another knock-out victory after reaching the semi-finals of the FAI Intermediate Cup and the Donie Forde Trophy decider.

Cobh were steady from kick-off with a team that retained just three players from last Friday’s victory over Athlone Town at St Colman’s Park.

John O’Donovan, David Bosnjak, and Dale Holland kept their places and the group was led by Abbott, who wore the captain’s armband.

What came through early on was the tried and tested Douglas Hall formula involving long-balls and making set-pieces count.

This is where the opening goal came from, with Ben Holland turning in a corner at the near post in the 12th minute.

The Ramblers actually struggled to assert themselves in their bid to get back into the game.

It took a corner at the end of the first half to get them back into the game, and Evers was on target with a bullet header in the 42nd minute.

It was 1-1 at the break and as the first half wore on, it became a game fraught with tension.

Suddenly it was about not losing, so McDermott changed his team by bringing on Niall O’Keeffe, Barry Coffey, and Waterford native Shane Griffin during a five window after the hour mark.

This opened things up, and it started with Cormac Kelly bursting through and having a low shot stopped by Cathal O’Hanlon.

Griffin then went for goal, and a curling effort by the midfielder went straight into the hands of Daniel Moynihan.

It was end-to-end with both teams getting forward and creating chances. Barry Coffey thought he created the winner in the 80th minute, but the resulting shot was scrambled off the goal-line.

This was followed by Abbott firing in on the edge of the area in the 86th minute with a strike that went well beyond the reach of the Douglas Hall goalkeeper, and Ahern wrapped things up in added time.

Douglas Hall: Daniel Moynihan; Cal Nolan, Jonah Obode, Ben Healy, David Crotty, George Howard, Brian Holland, Chris O’Reilly, Cormac Kelly, Eric Nolan, Timmy O’Reilly.

Subs: Michael Hammett for Nolan (75); Anthony Brothers for Kelly (83).

Cobh Ramblers: Cathal O’Hanlon; John O’Donovan, Brendeán Frahill, James O’Leary, Nolan Evers, David Bosnjak, Colin Henderson, Dale Holland, Tiernan O’Brien, Jason Abbott, George Nunn.

Subs: Niall O’Keeffe for Henderson (60); Barry Coffey for Holland (65), Shane Griffin for O’Leary (65), Oscar Ahern for Bosnjak (86).

Referee: Declan Fogarty