Stephen Henderson: If we get a win before the break it might open up the door to an outside playoff spot

Andrew Dempsey reports from Stradbrook Road

Cobh Ramblers boss Stephen Henderson admits he was pleased with his sides performance during the Rams 2-2 draw away to Cabinteely at Stradbrook on Saturday evening.

The Rams will feel somewhat unfortunate to be leaving the capital without all three points as Jack Watson’s 85^th minute equaliser spared promotion hunting Cabo’s blushes late on.

Speaking after the game to extratime.ie, ‘Hendo’ is hopeful that his side can force their way back into Playoff contention following a raft of impressive performances in recent weeks.  

“I’m very pleased. It required two different types of performance. I thought in the first half we played the better football. It was fantastic from ourselves.

“The second half was different. They changed the way they played, and we had to deal with that, and we did for long periods brilliantly.

“It was a mistake that done us in the end. It was unfortunate for Ben (O’Riordan), but he was magnificent for us throughout.

“This is a great point here, let’s be honest. They are one of the few sides going for promotion and we beat one of the other teams going for promotion last week.

“Galway (next week) are a bit hit and miss this year. They can be really good but when they’re poor they’re not so great.

“It’s our last home game before the break, hopefully we can get a big crowd there to push us on a little bit. If we get a win before the break it might open up the door to an outside playoff spot.”

With their impressive opening half display, Cabinteely reacted well and were rewarded for their ingenuity as Watson stabbed home late on.

“The second half was what I was expecting during both halves,” Henderson noted.  

“That’s how they play and they’re very good at playing that way. They pin you in, they’ve got some big physical strong lads and they’re all good distributors of the ball.

“They have their threats in key areas and in the second half they committed eight players forward. They put in some great balls which you can’t head cleanly away but, I was expecting their second half display in both halves.”

Concluding his post-match thoughts, the 2007 First Division title winning manager paid tribute to Cabinteely’s ground staff who have significantly improved the playing surface at Stradbrook in recent weeks.

“You hear all the horror stories about Stradbrook from others, but I know Chippy (Cabinteely groundsman), he’s a great lad and he’s done a remarkable job on this pitch in such a short space of time.

“I know it was horrendous at the start of the season but there was rugby being played on this pitch at the same time.

“As soon as they got the pitch to themselves it’s only taken them three or four weeks to transform it to that, it’s one of the best surfaces in the league now.”