Salthill Devon 1 - 0 Cobh Ramblers

Salthill Devon were full value for their win over Cobh Ramblers  at Drom on Friday night, but they still made it difficult for themselves by not taking a series of chances to wrap up the game. However Back to back home wins are always welcome and it brings them within sight of moving off the bottom.

The opening exchanges were scrappy with no real patterns albeit with plenty of effort displayed by both sides. The first half chance fell to Cobh on 7 minutes when Deady's free was blocked by the wall and Kynan Rocks blasted the rebound high and wide.

Salthill started to get into their stride in the second quarter ad the lively Oscar Sibanda looked threatening on the right flank. The home side pressed forward at every opportunity and Horgan looked impressive breaking form the back on several occasions, while Harty was controlling the midfield.

Young Shane O'Rourke picked up a yellow for an innocuous challenge on 24 minutes - this lad has done really well since getting the team some weeks ago and the former Finn Harp's U19  is the fifth right back from Killybegs to play in the league.

Six minutes later Salthill took the lead. A wonderful passing movement was started deep in Salthill Territory with Craig Harding winning possession and finding Alex Byrne - passes involving Cunningham, Byrne again and Enubele saw Harding pop up again just outside the box and smash the ball into the bottom corner for a great team goal.

Dan Cunningham almost doubled the scores seven minutes later when Shane Hallihan made an amazing save after Enda Curran had set up the chance.

Real drama unfolded five minutes before the break with two reds cards and a yellow being flashed by referee O 'Regan. In what initially seemed a 'handbags' situation Bobby Donoghue was shown straight red, Willie Enubele saw yellow, but difficult to see why! and with the play about to continue with a free to Cobh the assistant intervened and Mixie Harty was also shown red. The remaining 'tetchy' minutes of the half brought no further incident. 

Cobh introduced two subs at the break, with Waters and Stanton replacing McCarthy and O'Flynn.  The game continued to be scrappy with little of note, with Harding having another effort on target, a header - easily saved, and Brendan Frahill picking up a yellow card. 

Fifteen minutes into the half Enda Curran showed his ability when he bamboozled the Cobh defence, again Harding was involved in the build-up, but his shot flashed past the post. Almost immediately Curran had dinked the ball over the keeper only to see Thompson clear off the line. A few minutes earlier Curran had picked a daft yellow card for attempting to know the ball from Hallihan's hands! 

Teams come to rue missed chances and Salthill almost did on 66 minutes when James Keane made a great save down to his right as a rare Cobh break almost bore fruit. Six Minutes later Frahill's header following  a free hopped on the top of the bar as Salthill went through a bumpy patch. However Cobh only really threatened for set pieces and the home side gained command again as the end approached. Substitute Danny Campion had a golden opportunity in timed added on but he pulled his shot just wide. Five minutes of added time - Salthill's nemesis in early season - was seen out comfortably by the home side.  

This was a fine team performance by Salthill Devon, built on a solid very young backline, in which Robbie Gaul was again outstanding, a midfield orchestrated by the evergreen Mixie Harty where Willie Enubele as ever was tireless, with Curran show some flashes of his ability upfront.

Cobh were always struggling to get a foothold here, but they did have solid performers in goalkeeper Hallihan, Brendan Frahill who work tirelessly at the back and Martin Deady who battled throughout, but they lacked any cutting edge up front.

Salthill Devon: James Keane, Shane O'Rourke, Colm Horgan, Robbie Gaul, Alex Byrne, Mike Harty, Craig Harding, Willie Enubele, Dan Cunningham (Danny Campion 68) Enda Curran,(Brian Geraghty 90) Oscar Sibanda (Timmy Molloy 74).
Subs not used: Ryan Ludden, Cian Fadden, Andrew Walsh.

Cobh Ramblers: Shane Hallahan, Adam Thompson, John Meade, Brendan Frahill, Andrew Bhandarkar,(Shane Barrett 68) Robert Waters, Alan O'Flynn, (Ronan Stanton 46) Graham McCarthy, (Robbie Waters 46) Roy Kenny, Martin Deady, Kynan Rocks, Bobby Donoghue
Subs not used: Daniel Santry, Sean O'Mahony, Anthony O'Donnell, James Carson.

Referee: Kevin O'Regan

Attendance: 115

Extratime Man of the Match: Robbie Gaul (Salthill Devon).