Cobh Ramblers battle back in six-goal thriller with Athlone Town

Cobh Ramblers 3 Athlone Town 3 

Cobh Ramblers manager Fran Rockett admits he was disappointed after his side overturned a two-goal deficit to draw with Athlone Town at St. Colman’s Park.

The club trailed 3-1 midway through the second half and they managed to salvage a point with well-worked efforts from Jordan Adeyemi and Callum Honohan.

The result keeps the club in the play-offs and doesn’t cede any ground to Athlone, but it heightens the importance of upcoming games against Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds and Kerry at home.

While Rockett was happy to get a point over the way the game played out, he wished his side could have converted a number of early chances after Rhys Gourdie gave them the lead in the ninth minute.

Athlone soaked up the pressure before setting up Sean Brennan for a shot that beat Timothy Martin at the near post. The visitors took the lead at the start of the second half with a stunning strike from Patrick Grogan, and Will Smith scored from outside the area in the 54th minute.

While Cobh came back, Rockett could not help by express his frustrations at how the game went.

“I think disappointment [is how I describe it] because we didn't capitalise on the amount of opportunities we got earlier on in the game,” he said.

“I think in the opening stages of the game we were that dominant and we had those clear cut chances. It was disappointing but it would have been a great spectacle for a neutral, there's no doubt about it.

“It was a fantastic game for the league but I think we could have made the job a lot easier for ourselves."

“My God, the character to go from 3-1 down to come back and possibly win it 4-3 with some of the chances we had near the end of the game,” he added.

“You can't fault any of the lads. We're coming to that side of the season now, I suppose, where you need those characteristics because games are going to go to the wire. 

"You need to win games in all different ways and you need to pick up points in all different ways. I think we could have made it a lot easier for ourselves but we can't be greedy either.” 

One thing that remains is a sense of unity in the group, something that has defined Cobh this season.

“The vibe in the camp has been unbelievable and it's credit to the staff,” he said.

“The likes of John Frost, the likes of Noel Cantwell, the strength and conditioning coaches. The way they're bringing their energy to training, I think it starts with the staff. The players have just been absolutely fantastic.

“The positivity and the belief that's there. I think we take one game at a time but I think we're already bouncing back into training. It's a real positive vibe around the place but it's one game at a time and we can't get carried away with ourselves.” 

COBH: Timothy Martin; Brian Lenihan, Brendeán Frahill, Ronan Mansfield, Luka Le Bervet; Shane Griffin, Oran Crowe; Anthony Adenopo, Rhys Gourdie, Dylan McGlade, Jordan Adeyemi.

Subs: Jonas Sternberg for McGlade (58); Callum Honoahn for Adenopo (64).

ATHLONE: Brendan Clarke; Kyle O’Connor, Evan O’Connor, Peter Grogan, William Smith, Callum Cleary; Dylan Connolly, Sean Brennan, Gradi Lomboto; Brian McManus, Jonathan Kehir.

Subs: Patrick Ferry for Grogan (67); James Crawford for Cleary (83), Thomas Considine for Connolly (83), Zach Lawless for Brennan (90).

Referee: Daryl Carolan