Cockhill Celtic caught late for second week running in National League

Cockhill Celtic 0

Home Farm DCU 2

Cockhill welcomed Irish football royalty Home Farm as the 1975 FAI Cup winners landed at the Charlie O’Donnell sports grounds on Saturday afternoon.

Boasting former players of the ilk of Richard Dunne and Ronnie Whelan and a plethora of former Irish internationals, the Drumcondra men struggled in the first half, when in truth Cockhill could have been out of sight.

But after a determined second half and multiple world-class saves from shot-stopper Daithi Folan, Home Farm struck twice late on to inflict defeat on Cockhill who’ll be filled with regrets at that wasteful first half.

The visitors started the game positively and after five minutes the home dugout were demanding action after a tangle of legs between Odhran Daly O’Brien and Alan Leonard. A free kick was awarded on the edge of the home side’s box.

Home Farm continued the early pressure and forced Harry Doherty into a smart stop down to his right. From the resulting corner, Evan Haddock rose like a salmon but placed his header inches wide of the far post.

From that point on, it was all Cockhill as they had the chances to kill the game, with Luke Rudden in particular missing three great opportunities, all expertly saved by the away side’s shot-stopper. Conor Graham was getting a lot of joy down the right-hand side, twice finding Rudden with pull-backs into his path.

Jay Bradley also missed from close range, grazing the outside of the post from nine yards out. Everything was going Cockhill’s way and a goal was the only thing missing from an exceptional performance.

In fairness to Home Farm, they were much improved in the second half, keeping it tight for the first 15 minutes before unleashing Jamal Ibrahim and Patrick Abako into attack, with both men running the home side ragged with balls in behind.

Cockhill failed to create any real chances in the second period, with a few set pieces delivered on top of Daithi Folan being expertly dealt with.

Harry Doherty in the home goal also came to Cockhill’s rescue on multiple occasions, with Sifaks Melliah coming closest from 25 yards out with a daisy-cutting strike that was well dealt with.

Cockhill failed to find any rhythm and seemed a yard off it as a formation change from the away side compacted the middle of the park.

Just as it looked like both sides had settled for a draw, in the 88th minute a scuffed corner from Owen Benson evaded the defensive rearguard and Patrick Abako bundled it in from three yards out sending the small number of away fans into pandemonium.

As Cockhill pushed for an equaliser, they were caught again on the break. A long ball from the goalkeeper found Owen Benson, who ran through and slotted past Doherty, securing the three points.

As far as man of the match is concerned, Daithi Folan was exceptional in the away goal, while for Cockhill Odhran Daly O’Brien was the standout performer at centre-back.

Cockhill will feel from their opening two games that they should be on six points, but with a win and a draw, they have a bye week before travelling to Dublin to take on pre-tournament favourites Lucan United.

Manager Gavin Cullen had this to say after the game: “The first 45, I thought we were very good. I thought we were excellent, dominated the game, had plenty of opportunities and we were disappointed going in 0-0.

“In the second half, we didn’t get going. Injuries hampered us and forced us into a few substitutions, and I felt we didn’t come out.

“We got a sucker punch in the 90th minute when we didn’t defend properly.”

Cockhill Celtic: Harry Doherty, Lee McLaughlin, Lee McColgan, Adam Duffy, Luke Rudden, Jay Bradley, Odhran Daly O’Brien, Kieran McElroy, Tiernan Ruddy, Conor Graham Seamus McLaughlin. Subs: Damian Duffy, Garbhan Friel, Corey McBride, Brendan McLaughlin, Jack Mullan

Home Farm DCU: Daithi Folan, Micheal Keyes, Callum Ralph, Aaron Walsh, Evan Haddock, Alan Leonard, Harry O’Connor, Owen Benson, Jared Penrose, Sam Hayden, Sifaks Mellah. Subs: Jamal Ibrahim, Ethan Maher, Shane Forbes, Patrick Abako.

Referee: John Coll.