Limerick FC 2 - 3 Cobh Ramblers
Limerick FC 2 – 3 Cobh Rambers FC
What a sh*tty day!
The only way to describe the match was soul-destroying. Limerick didn’t do themselves justice yesterday against Cobh. Limerick for the main part played a good game but it was the crappy little mistakes that killed them.
Colm Heffernan played magnificent football but it just didn’t come together and result in a goal for him. Stephen O’Flynn was back and although he seemed a bit out of the game in the initial phases of it, he seemed to improve as time went on. He scored both goals, the penalty especially being a cracker. Anton Mannering played well, working for every chance he got. Barry Ryan, replacing Mannering in the second half, failed to make any impact on the game at all.
Brendan Hughes put in a great pass to Heffernan to set up the first goal and played well overall. Conor Molan also had a solid game.
Defence was okay generally, but at times absolutely awful. Pat Purcell was left dawdling with the ball on a number of occasions creating unnecessary danger for Limerick. Paul Finucane had a good game, and Derek Whyte played solidly.
Cobh, however were a different kettle of fish.
Dave Hill (the player-manager mind!) showed off his professionalism by giving the opposing team’s fans the finger, abusing the referee constantly, and later by getting himself sent off. You would think that someone who has played professional football in both Ireland and England would have a little more sense. At one stage while he was giving the finger to fans, one of his own players yelled at him to “keep your f*ckin eye on the game.” Well done Dave.
Jason Kabia was well out of line too, putting in a disgraceful tackle on Colm Heffernan. The good news is that he told us he was retiring at the end of the season – I’m sure the nation will weep. Cobh’s number 2 should have been sent off. By my count the referee talked to him on four separate occasions – all of which deserved a card.
Stephen Yelverton however played a great game for Cobh, and was a huge danger to us, especially during the first half when he was skipping around mid-field. Thankfully Derek Whyte brought him crashing down to earth with a great challenge that laid him flat on his back. Willie Bruton played very well for Cobh also, showing a great turn of pace.
Their goals against us were sh*tty, especially the second goal by Bruton scored just after half-time. Our defence went to sleep and Fyffe took a risk by coming out, which didn’t pay off, resulting in a goal that was given away needlessly. The ref was a disgrace with neither team being happy. There were a load of late calls, bad calls, an incident where there seemed to be a clear penalty for Limerick, and the fact that he did nothing with Cobh’s number two.
Here’s hoping that Limerick can shake this off before Kilkenny next week and end their season at the Jacks on a higher note than this.
