Cobh Ramblers season review: Disappointment will linger across winter of regret

Cobh Ramblers' season ended with a whimper instead of a bang as their play-off push ended with a defeat to Treaty United at the Markets Field on the final day.

Fran Rockett and his players had to win while hoping for other results to go their way, on a night and season that ended with the club sixth in the table.

The damage was done long before the players stepped on the bus to Limerick, with the defeat to Kerry in their final home game inflicting the most damage. That pushed Colin Healy and his players into the play-offs, a position they secured by drawing with champions Cork City on the final day at Mounthawk Park.

A change in fortunes would have meant a third top-five finish in four seasons. Cobh are now going into the winter after seeing a huge opportunity squandered in the closing weeks of their campaign.

Their last six games tell the whole story – one laced with unpredictability and a lack of consistency.

Ramblers went to Turner’s Cross and crashed City’s homecoming after winning the league title by coming from behind with three goals scored in the second half.

They went out the following week and lost to Wexford, which allowed Stephen Elliott’s side back into the play-off conversation. Cobh then played out a madcap 3-3 draw with Athlone Town and went to play-off favourites to Bray and won 4-1 with their best performance of the season. That put their destiny in their own hands and it slipped through when Kerry won 2-0 at St Colman's Park.

That kind of inconsistency has plagued their season and losses tended to come when it mattered most – like the defeat to Longford Town at Bishopsgate after the midseason break that stopped a three-game unbeaten run and the loss at Mounthawk Park in August that left the club eighth in the table. 

Consistency is key

The damage is done now and the winter is about understanding. That conversation will be based primarily on the squad selection and how it took weeks for a coherent XI to come together.

Injuries did play a part, but the problems were exacerbated midseason due to the departures of Gary Buckley, Jason Abbott, Shane Griffin, Wilson Waweru, and Claudio Osorio. Rockett and his management team were forced into a rethink while results dipped, with just one win in all competitions recorded from the middle of June to the end of July.

The Ramblers remained within touching distance of the play-offs despite this, while others made up for slow starts and started to believe they could finish in the top five. Kerry and Longford followed that path and their reward was at Cobh’s expense this October.

The departures were one thing. A lack of a coherent starting XI from the earliest weeks of preseason matters worse. The defence was where this was felt the most as Cobh have played multiple combinations of Brendeán Frahill, Cian Coleman, Callum Honohan, Gary Buckley, Shane Griffin, Luka Le Bervet, Lucas Curtin, and Brian Lenihan.

There are positives to take away into next season and beyond. 

Timothy Martin is under contract which will be the first block to build from over the winter. There’s also the emergence of a young cohort that includes Rhys Kelly Noonan, Mikey Carroll, Kai O’Neill, Lenihan, Curtin and Le Bervet.

They all have their connections to Cobh or towns in East Cork, and have experience in the club’s academy. Dara McCormick is not far behind them, after moving to St Colman's Park in the summer after leading Cork City to their first Munster Senior Cup victory in seven years.

Their ascent will also mean questions for others in the Cobh camp, and where will the likes of Rhys Gourdie and Jordan Adeyemi play football in 2027 after delivering on the Great Island?

At least there’s something to build from, instead of burning it all down and starting again. It might be a small thing but it’s the start, especially when the players know what disappointment is like after going so close this year and missing out in the final stretch.