Promotion-chasing Cobh Ramblers held away to Colin Healy's Kerry

Kerry 1 Cobh Ramblers 1 

The sixth meeting of the season between Kerry FC and Cobh Ramblers finished as a scored draw at Mounthawk Park.

Mick McDermott and his players thought they secured Munster Derby bragging rights when Rhys Gourdie scored on the hour mark but Oran Crowe was able to rescue a point for Colin Healy’s side.

The game was ultimately decided by a late Joe Adams miss in the dying seconds at the near post, during an end-to-end spell that saw both teams pushing for the win.

It did not look like this was going to be the case early on as it was a tense opening with chances few and far between.

The Ramblers struggled during these exchanges to pry open a back-line containing Crowe, a Cork City academy graduate. The defender actually created the game’s first opening with a foul and Samuel Bellis’ free-kick was knocked wide by an unmarked Cian Murphy in the 17th minute.

Jonas Hakkinen followed that up with a long ball over the top to Barry Coffey and the midfielder hit that wide.

Kerry, in comparison, were hard to break down and quick on the counter, as shown by Robbert Clary’s effort in the 25th minute. They also tried to use set-pieces to their advantages, something that was illustrated by a perfect ball sent in by Adams at one point during the first half.

Cian Coleman dealt with that and set up a chain of events that ended with Coffey forcing a low save from Matthew Connor in the dying seconds before the break.

The league’s top scorer got things back underway with header from right in front of the posts and knocked the ball inches wide.

This was the start of a prolonged period in possession for Cobh that would accumulate in the opening goal on the hour mark.

This came from a high press on the left wing winning the ball back in a high position and a quick series of passes set up Gourdie for a right legged finish on the edge of the area.

McDermott immediately tried building on this lead by bringing on Dylan McGlade for Bellis, with the winger positioned in the forward line alongside Murphy and Coffey.

Kerry actually wrestled their way back in after this, starting with Cian Brosnan announcing his arrival with a blistering shot that forced Timothy Martin into action.

The Kingdom equalised with their next advance, with Crowe turning in a header in the 70th minute.

Cian Bargary took it on himself to get Cobh back in the game, and this manifested in the winger getting around his marker and unleashing a curling effort that Connor got a hand to.

It was anyone’s game from that point, with the result ultimately decided by Adams miss at the back post in injury time.

KERRY: Matthew Connor; Chris McQueen, Daniel O’Connor, Sean O’Connell, Oran Crowe, Ewan Lee, Ronan Teehan, Niall Brookwell, Carl Mujaguzi, Robert Cleary, Joe Adams.

Subs: Arran Healy for Teehan (39); Cian Brosnan for O’Connor (60), Ryan Perez for Cleary (90).

COBH: Timothy Martin; Jonas Hakkinen, John O’Donovan, Cian Coleman, Shane Griffin, Niall O’Keeffe, Rhys Gourdie, Samuel Bellis, Barry Coffey, Cian Bargary, Cian Murphy.

Subs: Dylan McGlade for Bellis (63); Harvey Cribb for Gourdie (79), Matthew Whelan for O’Donovan (79).

Referee: Daniel Murphy