Dylan McGlade scored a late penalty as Cobh Ramblers came from behind to defeat Treaty United 2-1 at Markets Field, moving up to fourth in the League of Ireland First Division.
The last time these teams faced each other in round 9 of the League of Ireland First Division Ramblers ran out four nil winners thanks to a Dylan McGlade hattrick and a goal by Kia O’Neill. At the time Treaty United supporters were dissatisfied with their club both on and off the pitch. In recent weeks however the Shannonsiders have begun to turn the tide with their performances. In the 6 games since then Treaty have won 2, drawn 3 and only lost once including a three-nil win over Finn Harps last weekend. While Treaty still remain at the foot of the table, they are only 7 points off the playoff places in a much condensed league.
Kick off was delayed until 8:30 as the Ramblers bus was caught up in traffic due to a car crash on the way to Limerick. Cobh manager Fran Rockett once again shuffled his pack with Cian Coleman missing through injury being replaced by Lucas Curtin. Kai O’Neill dropped to the bench with Wilson Waweru starting and Rhys Brennan replacing Rhys Kelly Noonan.
Treaty United began with a lot of energy in the opening moments, confident after their recent good form. While the first half saw a lot of combative play in the midfield, with Crowe and Abbott battling Treaty’s Steven Healy and Ronan Manning, there was very little clear-cut chances. The closest Ramblers came was a Rhys Gourdie shot over the bar. Nothing of note was created by either side in a half that was high on good defensive work. A floodlight failure at half time briefly threatened the game but the fault was resolved.
In the second half Ramblers continued to probe without creating any significant chances as they struggled to find Waweru in the opponent’s box. In the 56th minute Treaty manager Tommy Barrett went to his bench with Ben Feeney and Mark Byrne replacing Doherty and Oyenuga. Six minutes later Byrne would have an impact as somewhat against the run of play Treaty opened the scoring. Treaty picked up the ball in midfield and a quick pass to Byrne saw the Limerick side on the attack. His pass found Curtis free on the left side of the box who finished well off the post past the onrushing Timo Martin for the first goal of the game.
Treaty taking the lead spurred Ramblers into action and they equalised almost immediately. A deep Brennan cross from the right found Waweru free in the box and the Ramblers forward made no mistake with his header, deftly guiding the ball beyond Jack Brady in the Treaty goal for his first goal of the season.
Ramblers now pushed on for the winner with Fran Rockett turning to the bench in an attempt to get all three points. Shane ‘Little Grif’ Griffin replaced Jason Abbott on 65 minutes. Rhys Kelly Noonan replaced Wilson Waweru on 70 minutes with the Cobh forward reluctantly withdrawn. In the 84th minute Mikey Carroll replaced Crowe who was excellent in the holding midfield role throughout. Anthony Adenopo replaced Brennan. Still Ramblers couldn’t find a winner.
That all changed in the 89th minute when Rhys Gourdie was fouled in the box. Referee Mark Houlihan pointed to the spot. Ramblers’ top scorer Dylan McGlade stepped forward and made no mistake for his 8th goal of the season, claiming all three points for Cobh.
The win moves Cobh Ramblers up to 4th in the table on 25 points only 2 points behind UCD in second but heaps the pressure on Barrett with Treaty United remaining bottom on 15 points.
Next up for both teams is the last game before the midseason break as Cobh Ramblers host Kerry FC in St. Colman’s Park. Treaty United are next away to Longford Town. Both games will be played on Friday 29th of May.