Dylan McGlade double in Kerry fires Cobh Ramblers to second league win

Kerry FC 1 Cobh Ramblers 2 

Cobh Ramblers recorded just their second First Division win of the season on Friday evening at Mounthawk Park.

Fran Rockett and his players are back in action on Monday when they welcome Treaty United to St Colman’s Park at 5pm.

Dylan McGlade kick-started their Easter weekend by netting a brace against Kerry, with the goals coming either side of half-time, and former Cobh player Cian Bargary pulled one back shortly after with a deflected strike.

The Ramblers were forced to buckle down late on and grind the result out, with Timothy Martin producing a number of excellent saves as the home side chased an equaliser down to the final few seconds. The result moves Cobh up to seventh, three points behind Finn Harps for the final play-off spot.

Rockett previously stated that he is targeting this weekend as a source of points as a way to move up in the rankings, after a stuttering run that has produced defeats to Athlone Town and UCD in addition to scored draws with Bray Wanderers and Cork City.

The coach dealt with a number of injuries during that stretch and he arrived in Tralee with a rotated group that had three changes to the one that was defeated by The Students last time out at Belfield.

Brian Lenihan, Garry Buckley, and Rhys Kelly Noonan were in for Rhys Brennan, Jason Abbott, and Wilson Waweru at Mounthawk Park, while four members of the U20s were on the bench.

The adjusted group settled in as Bargary headed an Arran Healy corner just over the bar, with the winger also stinging the palms of Martin midway through the first half.

The Ramblers were awarded a penalty in the dying seconds before the break following a foul on Rhys Brennan by Sean O’Connell, and McGlade got his first goal of the season from the spot.

The winger made it 2-0 in the 48th minute with a close-range finish passed Harry Halwax after Cobh pressed and won the ball inside Kerry’s half.

A sense of comfort with the second goal was gone with Bargary’s deflected strike off Brendeán Frahill in the 64th minute.

The Ramblers hung on to take the three points and move on to a game with a Treaty United side that were held to a 0-0 draw on Friday by Longford Town.

The Limerick side are stuck in the basement, with just six points collected from eight games.

KERRY: Harry Halwax; Cian Bargary, Jonas Häkkinen, Killian Cantwell, Niall Brookwell, Sean O’Connell; Vincent Borden, Arran Healy, Sean McGrath; Cian Murphy, Eric Koufie.

Subs: Ryan Kelliher McGrath (HT); Brandon Bermingham for Koufie (HT), Cian Brosnan for O’Connell (63), Ewan Lee for Cantwell (63), Luke Palmer for Murphy (75).

COBH: Timothy Martin; Lucas Curtin, Callum Honohan, Brendeán Frahill, Brian Linehan; Garry Buckley, Mikey Carroll, Oran Crowe; Rhys Gourdie, Rhys Kelly-Noonan, Dylan McGlade.

Subs: Rhys Brennan for Lenihan (32); Wilson Waweru for Kelly-Noonan (68), Jason Abbott for Carroll (81), Anthony Adenopo for McGlade (81).

Referee: Robert Dowling.