Salthill Devon come up trumps to secure First Division status

Salthill Devon 2Cobh Ramblers 1

(Salthill Devon win 3-1 on aggregate)

Keith Kelly

SALTHILL Devon made it a Galway double in this season’s Airtricity League play-offs to secure their place in the First Division next season, Emlyn Long’s side securing a comfortable 2-1 win over Cobh Ramblers in Drom on Saturday night, to go with the 1-0 win they secured in the first leg mid-week.

The hard work had been done in Cobh the previous Tuesday, with Mickey Gilmore giving his side a crucial first-leg win, and while that put the pressure on Cobh for Saturday night, it also meant Devon could soak up pressure as they didn’t have to chase the game.

In the end, the experience of the past season stood to the home side as they always had that little bit more than Cobh, despite a number of scares in the second half with goalkeeper Ronan Forde called into action far too often for Devon’s liking.

The home side also had a number of chances to add to their tally in a second half that was far superior to what was on offer in the first 45 minutes, but had Victor Collins shown more composure in front of goal, Devon would have wrapped up the win long before Ciprian Straut’s injury time goal finally ended the Cobh challenge.

It was a happy end to what was a traumatic season on the pitch for Devon, one which saw them win just twice in 33 games, and concede 86 goals during the campaign in their first season in the Airtricity League.

Speaking after the game, manager Emlyn Long said he was delighted his side had retained its First Division status, and he was looking forward to next season.

“It’s nice to hold onto the status. It’s been difficult, a learning process, but we are delighted to retain our status, and it’s great for the progression of the players through the club – nine of the players who started tonight came up through the system at the club.

“It was the toughest year I put in with the club, but by far the most enjoyable. It was tough on all of us, the players, and the management team of myself, Mike Quirke, Joey Power and Sean Buckley, but we’ll learn from it and take those lessons into next season,” he said.Devon got off to the perfect start on Saturday night when, protec

ting a one-goal lead from the first leg, they opened the scoring in the eighth minute to banish any nerves and leave Cobh with what looked an impossible task of getting back into the tie.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.