Cork City travel to Cobh Ramblers in SSE Airtricity Men's First Division tonight
By Tomás O'Conchubhair
There'll be plenty of familiar faces on show as SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division leaders Cork City travel to St Colman's Park to take on county rivals Cobh Ramblers this evening.
For one player though, it'll be a last visit of the season to a stadium he called home for four seasons in total, since arriving back in Cork from Preston North End’s Academy in 2019 - a time when former City favourites Kevin O’Connor and Seáni Maguire were in the Lancashire outfit’s senior side.
Defender Charlie Lyons has been a mainstay in the Cork City defence this campaign, netting 5 times in his 27 league games of 2024. However, with over a century of appearances for Cobh Ramblers, it's still somewhat of a home trip heading to St Colman's Park.
Originally signed by former Ramblers boss Stephen Henderson, the left footed centre half has gone on to make over 140 SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division appearances over the six seasons since his return from Deepdale - a single season in 2022 with Galway United punctured his spell with Cobh, ahead of his December 2023 move to City.
The Innishvilla native made his league debut at United Park as Cobh were defeated 4-0 by a Drogheda United side under the leadership of current Cork City manager Tim Clancy.
The links with City don't end there as a few weeks later he scored his first goal for Ramblers in a 6-1 victory against a Wexford outfit for whom current City attacker Jack Doherty netted a penalty. Last December, Doherty swapped Cobh for Cork City a day before Lyons made the same journey.
Strangely enough, his last goal for Galway United was against a Cork City side featuring his central defensive partner Cian Coleman. Coleman too can regard tonight's surroundings as familiar, having left City for Ramblers in 2017 - where he spent a single season before spells at Limerick and St Patrick's Athletic were followed by a return to Turner's Cross for the 2020 season.
2020 saw Conor Drinan make his league debut for Cobh Ramblers. The versatile left sided player turned out 68 times in the SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division before joining Cork City in the summer of 2023 and played regularly as City tried unsuccessfully to stay in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division. He's added another nine appearances in the SSE Airticity Men’s First Division, scoring twice.
Drinan’s penultimate home league goal for Cobh came in a 3-2 defeat to Cork City, a game which saw his current teammate Cian Coleman score the winner.
Current Cobh Ramblers midfielder Dale Holland made his league debut for City in an encounter with Coleman’s Limerick in 2018, while his teammate Pierce Philips’ own Leesiders league debut came in the previous game against a Shamrock Rovers outfit with current City midfielder Greg Bolger in the engine room.
Just a flavour of some of the links between the teams tonight in what's sure to be a tasty encounter at St Colman's Park.
