On a historic night for Cabinteely FC, on-fire Rob Manley grabbed the headlines with his first-ever senior hat-trick. And the striker has now coined the phrase ‘Balls of Steel’ after his double penalty conversation against Drogheda United on Friday.
On a historic night for Cabinteely FC, on-fire Rob Manley grabbed the headlines with his first-ever senior hat-trick. And the striker has now coined the phrase ‘Balls of Steel’ after his double penalty conversation against Drogheda United on Friday. “I’m delighted to get my first senior hat-trick in League of Ireland football. More importantly, we got the three points,” exclaimed the 21-year-old as he helped the South Dublin side leave the Louth venue with their first-ever away League success there. Having had penalty claims turned down against both Bray Wanderers and Longford Town already this season at Stradbrook, the attacker won one against Shelbourne. But he had the confidence to twice step-up and convert from 12-yards against the Boynesiders. “We’ve been unlucky with some penalty decisions this season. I’ve always said you have to have Balls of Steel to take two penalties in a game, so I was delighted they both went in.” Prior to the start of the 2019 season, Manley had scored just two goals in 28 league appearances for UCD, Bohemians and Drogheda. His treble against the side he finished last season with now gives him five goals in his last three First Division outings. In doing so, he became the first Cabo player to claim the rights to a match ball since Kieran Marty Waters’ hat-trick against Athlone Town back in September 2017. “I delighted just to be playing so much and helping the team out” stated the front man who is who is studying at the TU Dublin Blanchardstown Campus. “We’ve moved up the table. Hopefully, this is going to be a good year for Cabinteely.” Now top scorer in the First Division, and his side just two points off top-spot, Manley is hoping there is more to come for both the club and him personally. “The next few games (against Limerick and Galway) are not going to be easy. We’ll just re-group, train hard and go into the next week looking to keep our unbeaten run going.”
