First Division Round up as Cork City move seven point clear

First Division Round up as Cork City move seven point clear

It was heartbreak for Cobh Ramblers at St. Colman’s Park on Friday evening as Cork CIty came from behind to take all three points courtesy of a late strike from Ruairi Keating.

Cobh came into the game on the back of a 2-2 draw against Shane Keegan’s former employers Wexford. Ex Cork City Academy midfielder Pierce Philips replaced Luke Desmond in the Rams’ only change for the derby clash.

Cork City, who only picked up a single point in a double set of fixtures last weekend, made a trio of changes - Ally Gilchrist and Jonas Hakkinen coming in for Kevin O’Connor and Barry Coffey respectively while a late change to the teamsheet saw Louis Britton take the place of Cian Murphy.

After a goalless first half, the second period was only five minutes old when Jake Hegarty fired the home side in front for his third goal of the season - the former Middleton player netting against the Leesiders in consecutive seasons after scoring the winner last year.

However, any dreams home fans had of a repeat result were dashed within ten minutes as Ruairi Keating levelled the scores - the former Sligo Rovers player finding the net against Cobh for the second time this season.

With ten minutes to play, he broke Ramblers’ hearts as he scored to give City a lead they never relinquished and took a giant leap towards promotion by opening the gap at the top to seven points.

Athlone Town slowed the Treaty United promotion train with a 2-0 home win on Friday night. Goals from Adam Lennon and Thomas Oluwa saw Dermot Lennon’s men record their third win of the league and earn a clean sheet for the first time this season.

Former Bray Wanderers goalkeeper Enda Minogue kept a clean sheet on his debut for the Midlanders - making a number of good saves early in the game as Treaty made a bright start.



However, it was Athlone who made the breakthrough with just over five minutes left in the half, Thomas Oluwa finding the net for the eighth time this season. He almost doubled the lead shortly after but Treaty earned a reprieve and went into the break just a goal down.

The Midlanders doubled their lead on the hour mark, courtesy of former UCD winger Adam Lennon who returned to his home club in the summer, and held out to pick up three points at home for the second time this season.