Ramblers realise the dream

NOT A bad time to open an account.

Seventy three minutes into the final 90 of the season, and with title rivals Finn Harps in cruise control down in Kilkenny, the unlikely figure of centre-half Kevin Murray popped up in a crowded Athlone Town penalty area, got a defender’s toe-poke to the ball and, on a nerve-jangling night, that close-range finish — scrappy and sublime all at once — was enough to send Cobh Ramblers into the Premier Division as First Division champions.

“Unbelievable,” said the goal hero afterwards, as the Cobh players battled their way to the dressing room through a throng of ecstatic travelling supporters. “I was disappointed I hadn’t got off the mark all year but no better time to do it then when it really mattered — last game of the season and nothing seemed to be going right for us on the night. We had to dig deep and I can’t praise the lads enough.”