Cobh Ramblers return to winning ways thanks to Cian Bargary's second half strike

Cobh Ramblers 1

UCD 0

Cian Bargary’s second half goal was the difference as Cobh Ramblers ended their three match losing run by defeating UCD 1-0 at St Colman’s Park on Friday night.

The winger hit the back of the net in the 55th minute, and the result makes sure Mick McDermott’s side stay third in the table.

This follows a rough few weeks that saw the early season bubble burst with losses to Bray Wanderers, Wexford, and Dundalk.

UCD tried to capitalise on this run of form by pushing up early on and creating a number of chances.

The Students only got through the Cobh line once, and that shot was pushed out for a corner that came to nothing.

The Ramblers grew into the game, with their first opening coming from a Barry Coffey cross in the 14th minute and that was easily caught by Dara Kavanagh.

Bargary then got around Adam Wells on the right wing and saw a low pass narrowly miss an onrushing Nolan Evers in the box.

The Ramblers kept going and turned a free-kick from Waterford’s Shane Griffin into a corner at the Liam McMahon Stand. Cian Colman got on the end of this but was unable to put force behind the ball, and the chance was stopped on the goal-line by Kavanagh.

UCD soaked up the pressure and broke, and at the end of this was Sean Brennan. The midfielder aimed for the bottom corner and saw his shot pushed away by Timothy Martin.

Cobh came through this unscathed, and finished the half with a stunning strike from Waterford’s Shane Griffin. Kavanagh pushed this into the path of Coffey, who fumbled the ball out for a goal-kick.

The game restarted with a weaving run from Michael McCullagh and at the end of this was a low cross that hit the side netting.

At the other end, Waterford’s Shane Griffin won a corner in the 50th minute and Niall O’Keeffe knocked this into the hands of Kavanagh.

UCD reacted to this by replacing Wells with Michael Raggett, and the substitute marked his arrival with a tame effort on the edge of the area.

The Ramblers blocked this down and immediately went up the pitch, where a cross by Waterford’s Shane Griffin caused chaos inside the box. The Students could not clear their lines, and Bargary used this uncertainty to get in and score the opening goal in the 55th minute.

Ciaran Behan tried to respond for UCD, and his half-volley went straight into the hands of Martin.

Coleman then came to the rescue to block a cross on the goal-line, and the resulting corner was dealt with by the Cobh goalkeeper.

The Students tried everything late on in a bid to rescue a point, but it wasn’t enough as Cobh held on and took the three points.

Cobh Ramblers: Timothy Martin; John O’Donovan, Niall O’Keeffe, Cian Coleman, Nolan Evers, Shane Griffin, Shane Griffin, Cian Bargary, Dale Holland, Barry Coffey, David Bosnjak.

Subs: Cian Murphy for Holland (65); Samuel Bellis for Bosnjak (84), Jason Abbott for Coffey (84).

UCD: Dara Kavanagh; Adam Wells, Sean Brennan, Ciaran Behan, Brian McManus, Matthew Alonge, Niall Holohan, Adam Verdon, Luke O’Regan, Jake Doyle, Cathal McCarty.

Subs: Michael McCullagh for Alonge (43); Michael Raggett for Wells (53), Killian Cailloce for Doyle (79), Adam Brennan for Verdon (79).

Referee: Ray Matthews