Cobh Ramblers 0

Galway United 4

Dylan O’Connell reports from St Colman’s Park

GALWAY UNITED CONTINUED their First Division title challenge in St Colman’s Park on Friday evening as they beat Cobh Ramblers 4-0.

Two goals from Ed McCarthy combined with close-range finishes from Max Hemmings and Manu Dimas gave the Tribesmen the three points in Cork Harbour.

Despite the final result, the home side, in front of 622 spectators, caused Galway a number of problems over the 90 minutes.

Cobh manager Darren Murphy, who played under Galway boss John Caulfield at Cork City in 2014, got the better got his former master for early periods in the first half.

Rams did all the basics right as they sat back and played patiently against the form team in the division.

They were nearly rewarded with their first incursion into the Galway half except an in-swinging free-kick from John Kavanagh was put out for a corner by Conor Kearns.

The Galway goalkeeper was then called into action after Conor Drinan pressed and won the ball high. The striker played a quick pass to Beineon O’Brien Whitmarsh and the forward’s shot was well saved by Kearns.

The visitors steadied themselves after these early jabs from the home side and in the eighth minute they had their first effort on goal. McCarthy took this and the ball floated comfortably into Sean Barron’s hands.

Hemmings then forced a scrambling clearance from the Cobh defence after he cut inside and went from goal inside the area. Seconds later, a loose ball in the box went to Diego Portilla and he hit it wide.

Hemmings made up for his earlier miss in the 20th minute after he collected a squared ball from Wilson Waweru. The midfielder, who scored his first goal for the club against Longford Town on Monday, finished neatly with the outside of his boot.

McCarthy made it 2-0 with a fine finish from outside the area. He controlled the ball while steading himself then pinged it into the top left corner.

A mistake from Barron after a Dave Hurley corner led to the goalkeeper punching the ball into McCarthy’s feet. He spotted space and went for goal first time and his driven shot rose through the penalty area and in.

Galway had a number of chances to extend their lead in the second half. One opening saw a three against one situation and this ended with McCarthy getting flagged for offside.

A free-kick was also laid into the path of Conor McCormack and the midfielder smacked the ball off the wall.

The Ramblers pushed up in the final fifteen minutes, looking for a late consolation. Despite some good crosses from players like Darragh O’Sullivan Connell, Galway always looked comfortable.

Substitute Dimas poked the ball in at the near post in the first minute of injury time to make it 4-0 to Galway.

Cobh Ramblers: Sean Barron; Ben O’Riordan (Harlain Mbayo 64), Brendan Frahill, Jason Abbott, Pierce Philips (Luke Desmond 64), Beineon O’Brien Whitmarsh (Sean McGrath 80), Jake Hegarty, Conor Drinan (Danny O’Connell 13), Darragh O’Sullivan Connell, Jack Larkin (James O’Leary 80), James McCarthy.

Galway United: Conor Kearns; Conor O’Keeffe, Stephen Walsh, Killian Brouder, Diego Portilla (Charlie Lyons 65), David Hurley, Wilson Waweru (Gary Boylan 65), Conor McCormack (Ronan Manning 74), Ed McCarthy (Francely Lombato 89), Alex Murphy (Manu Dimas 74), Max Hemmings (Jordan Adeyamo 74).

Referee: Oliver Moran.

SSE Airtricity League First Division results:

• Athlone Town 1-2 Cork City
• Cobh Ramblers 0-4 Galway United
• Bray 1-4 Waterford