Cobh looking to bounce back from Longford disappointment at home to Finn Harps 

Cobh Ramblers will continue their play-off push on Friday evening when they face Finn Harps at St. Colman's Park, kick off 7:45pm.

Fran Rocket and his players will go into this game fourth in the table, three points from Longford Town and Wexford.

This is a must win fixture for Cobh after they were downed 2-1 last Saturday at Bishopsgate.

Nothing went their way in the midlands with Dean Williams and Pharrell Manuel scoring early for Longford, with Shane T. Griffin setting up a big finish that never arrived.

The Ramblers tried to reinvent themselves in response to the deficit, something that led to a number of changes as the game went on.

Rhys Kelly Noonan was the first introduction, in place of Jason Abbott in just the 17th minute. 

Rockett tinkered even more after the break by introducing Cian Coleman for Rhys Brennan and Anthony Adenopo for Lucas Curtin, with Kai O'Neill coming on shortly after for an injured Rhys Gourdie.

The Ramblers did pull a goal back, from a Shane T. Griffin penalty after a foul on O'Neill inside the area, but they never looked like equalising.

Longford were able to comfortably hold Cobh at arm’s length, with their back line heading away almost everything sent into the area during added time.

The optimist will look at that result and see the hosts form, which saw just two defeats recorded in nine games before last week's meeting with the Ramblers.

The pessimist will look at the response to such an early set-back, and how Cobh's best scoring chance came from a penalty in the 78th minute.

The reality is the defeat, and the ceding of ground in the play-offs to rivals Longford Town. 

There's also a missed opportunity to gain ground on Wexford following their defeat to Cork City at Ferrycarrig Park and Athlone Town after their loss to Kerry at Mounthawk Park.

The Ramblers are now looking to bounce back against a Finn Harps side struggling for form after recording just two wins in their last ten games.

Kevin McHugh's team are also leaking goals with nine racked up in their last two outings against Cork City and UCD.

This has left Harps second from bottom, two points from Treaty United with 19 games played.

The thing for Cobh is that Friday's opponent knows how to frustrate them, something that was evident during their last league meeting at St. Colman's Park.

The Ramblers went into the game hoping get their second league win of the season and they broke through at the end of the half when O’Neill got in to score his first senior league goal.

Substitute Nathan Lumingo then equalised against the run of play in the 72nd minute, and there was no late drama despite Cobh pushing for a winner.

The Ramblers did get the better of Harps in their second league meeting in Donegal, and that was far from routine as Rockett’s players has to give it their all in order to secure the three points.

Despite this, Cobh almost enjoyed a perfect start as a spectacular long range shot from Dylan McGlade was saved by Lorenzo Piaia with less than 30 seconds played.

Lumingo responded for the Harps side with a stunning strike that was stopped by Timothy Martin, before Gourdie saw a header go just wide from a corner.

It was end to end with chances plentiful, but neither team was able to assert control over the tie.

The Ramblers eventually broke through in the 72nd minute when Gary Buckley got in to score after Callum Holohan drew a save from Piaia. 

Rhys Kelly Noonan wrapped things up by capitalising on a defensive mistake and slotting in, to secure the result for Cobh in Donegal.

The Ramblers have grown since that day in April, with Rockett now in possession of a finely tuned outfit that has settled into a 4-2-3-1 formation. Injuries are a concern with McGlade missing in Longford and Gourdie going off, but the general expectation is that Cobh should have enough in their rank to get the better of a struggling Harps outfit on home soil.