Cobh Ramblers manager Stephen Henderson was full of praise for his players after his side secured their place in the second round of the EA Sports Cup with a 3-1 victory over Limerick FC. Having lost to Limerick by the same score line only three nig
Cobh Ramblers manager Stephen Henderson was full of praise for his players after his side secured their place in the second round of the EA Sports Cup with a 3-1 victory over Limerick FC.
Having lost to Limerick by the same score line only three nights ago, Henderson was eager to see an improvement from his players and they duly delivered. Denzil Fernandes (6’) got Ramblers off the mark early with an acrobatic finish. Ramblers had the better of the opportunities with Ian Turner and Cian Leonard both going close. Limerick grew more into the game in the second half, but it was Rambelers’ substitute Bryan Murphy (73’) who doubled the home side’s lead. Limerick responded through Sean McSweeney (84’) but Ramblers sealed the victory after Jaze Kabia (87’) tapped home after Murphy’s free-kick struck the post. Manager Henderson was happy to see improvements from last Friday’s defeat to Limerick.
“We went to Limerick last Friday and we played a lot of good football but defensively we were horrendous. We were very disappointed about that, especially the goals we gave away. It knocked us back a bit. We needed a response today and we got it. There is still work to be done but it was a great win.”
“The EA Sports Cup was a great competition for us last year, it was brilliant to get to the final. To score three goals today will give us a good boost before we play Shelbourne next Friday.”
“It was a great opportunity for a lot of players today to come back in and have a say. I thought Ben O’ Riordan was excellent at the back, Denzil (Fernandes) was always a threat, (Paul) Hunt in goal made a few great saves and Murphy came on and got a very good goal. Young Stephen O’ Leary came on also and looked very good on the ball. We are really excited about our threat going forward but you don’t win matches unless you can keep a few clean sheets, so we need to keep working on that.”
Cobh Ramblers can now look forward to a second-round derby clash with Cork City but manager Henderson is more focused on the league and next Friday’s opponents Shelbourne.
“It will be a great competitive game against Cork City. The EA Sports Cup is the third most important trophy in the country, so it’ll be a proper derby. I just want my lads to go there and do themselves justice. We have a few league games before that so I’m hoping we can get a bit of consistency going.”
“We will need to be organised against Shelbourne on Friday night. Against the big teams you have to set up to be hard to beat and then trust your players to come up with the goods. Shels are clear favourites but this league is a bit mad at the moment. There is an inconsistency across the league so it will be the team that is hard to beat that will move up the table.”
“We will give Shels the respect they deserve but we won’t have any fear. We have to go out and have a good organised game plan and see where it takes us. It should be a great game for the spectators.”
