Waterford 3
Cobh Ramblers 1

Patrick O’ Connor reports from the RSC in Waterford

WATERFORD SCORED THREE goals for a third consecutive game when they had a very comfortable 3-1 win over Cobh Ramblers at the RSC in Waterford on Friday night.

This was a largely lacklustre game and apart from the goals, there was little to enthuse about for the attendance of 2,413 spectators.

There was a gulf in class between the two sides and Waterford manager Danny Searle was able to make four changes to the team which defeated Bray Wanderers in their previous outing as well as utilise his full complement of five substitutes in the second half.

Waterford took the lead in the 13th minute when they worked a very good move up the right flank, Timi Sobowale took the ball to the end line and his perfect pullback was flashed to the net by Raul Uche.

The home side continued to dominate possession and peppered the Ramblers ‘keeper Paul Hunt on numerous occasions with Roland Idowu, Yassine En- Neyah and Phoenix Patterson all trying their luck with shots from distance.

The visitors rarely got into their attacking half of the field and when they did win a free kick in the 25th minute, James O Leary did not test Paul Martin in goal with a shot that was well over the bar.

The pace of the game dropped off as the first half progressed, Cobh Ramblers found it very difficult to string any passes together while Waterford seemed to lapse into a complacent mode after the ease with which they scored the opening goal.

Waterford continued to own the ball in the opening phases of the second half and they almost got a second goal in the 51st minute when Patterson drew a good save from Paul Hunt.

The Scottish-born winger made no mistake in the 54th minute when he availed of a free kick 20 meters out to fire the ball over Hunt for a great goal.

Ramblers’ best chance came in the 58th minute when Jake Hegarty muscled his way past the Waterford defenders and struck a powerful shot which drew a good save from Paul Martin.

Both sides had chances in the final 20 minutes, Raul Uche drew another good save from Hunt while at the other end substitute Danny O Connell won a corner after a low drive was parried away by Martin.

The result was put beyond doubt in the 78th minute when the hosts waltzed through the Ramblers’ defence and when Patterson pulled the ball back from the end line substitute Wassim Aouachria drove it home from just inside the box.

Cobh Ramblers did pull one goal back, somewhat against the run of play in the 80th minute when O’Connell ghosted in behind the Waterford defence and blasted an unstoppable shot past Hunt.

Waterford saw out the remainder of the with relative ease and will now look to do a quick turnaround before they head to Longford on Monday night for their last away game of the season.

Waterford: Paul Martin, Richard Taylor, Niall O Keeffe, Alex Baptiste (Dean Larkin 73), Roland Idowu (Shane Griffin 66), Yassine En-Neyah, Junior Quitirna (Wassim Aouachria 66), Timi Sobowale (Harvey Warren 84), Raul Uche, Jeremie Milanbo, Phoneix Patterson (Remi Thompson 84).

Cobh Ramblers: Paul Hunt, John Kavanagh, Brendan Frahill, Jason Abbot, Michael McCarthy (Charlie Fleming 46), Jake Hegarty (Issa Kargo 75), James O’Leary, Sean McGrath (Liam Kerwick 70), Luke Desmond, Harlain Mbayo, Dale Holland (Danny O Connell 70).

Referee: Paul Norton

Other First Division results:

Treaty United 1-1 Galway

Wexford 4-2 BrayWanderers

Athlone 2-2 Longford