Treaty United 1 Cobh Ramblers 0
Joe Hanson was the hero as his late goal saw Treaty United beat Cobh Ramblers in tonight’s play-off semi-final first leg in the Markets Field.
Despite Cobh looking the more likely to score in the second half, it was the home side who took the lead in the 76th minute when a magnificent whipped cross from Mark Byrne found super sub Hanson at the back post. He made no mistake, beating Timothy Martin with a powerful header.
The home side held on for the remainder and will take their one-goal advantage to St. Colman’s Park. The return leg takes place on Tuesday night, with players and supporters alike dreaming of leading the club to the SSE Airtricity First Division Play-off Final.
The Treaty fans sang about making “history” in the early stages of the game. Winning this tie would indeed make history, it would be the club’s first time reaching the play-off final.
As smoke filled the stands from the red flares lit by the loud and proud Treaty fans, the referee blew his whistle to start the game. It was the home side who started the brightest, with Lynch forcing a corner with a smart cross in the second minute of the game.
Just a minute later, Ramblers goalkeeper Martin came out to punch a cross, but it only went as far as Richkov Boevi, who saw his quick reaction effort go narrowly wide.
After a frantic opening couple of minutes, both defences were on top. Boevi picked up where he left off last week, comfortably clearing everything Cobh had to offer in the first quarter of an hour.
24 minutes into the first half, Treaty fans thought they were ahead when Byrne showed fantastic composure on the edge of the box to set up his captain, Lee Lynch. Martin got down low to his left to tip it around the post.
Cobh cleared the resulting corner, which saw Martin go down with what looked like an ankle injury, leading the referee to halt the game. A drop ball for Treaty led to Byrne and Lynch combining again, with the skipper seeing his attempt well saved once more by Martin.
Cobh then went up the other end and had two chances of their own. Cian Bargary was denied before Barry Coffey saw his shot superbly blocked by Lee Devitt. With five minutes to go in the first half, Byrne saw a cross blocked, with calls of handball from the Limerick side’s supporters ignored by the referee.
Moments later, he found himself at the edge of the box where, after a flurry of blocked efforts, he curled an attempt narrowly wide of the bottom left-hand corner.
10 minutes into the second half, a Cobh header bounced across the face of goal, but to the home side’s delight, there was no one there to take advantage. The first substitution of the match followed when Cobh captain Shane Griffin clashed with Patrick Ferry. The latter unable to continue due to injury.
With 20 minutes remaining, Dylan McGlade found himself in space down the left. He sent a diagonal pass across to Bargary, who laid it back to Rhys Gourdie at the edge of the box. His effort went just over the bar.
Cobh were starting to find their rhythm, and Bargary began to put his stamp on the game. First blasting a shot over before seeing a beautiful curling attempt crash off the crossbar after some tidy footwork on the edge of the Treaty box.
While Cobh began to take a hold on the game, it was Hanson’s headed effort that delivered the sucker punch for the away side’s ambitions of an advantage heading into Tuesday’s second leg.
The Markets Field has erupted!
Joe Hanson heads Treaty United in front. pic.twitter.com/yqW808bO6A
— League of Ireland (@LeagueofIreland) October 24, 2025
The Treaty crowd erupted, and it wasn’t long before the red flares were lit again and the cheers were being heard through the fog.
With five minutes left of normal time, Treaty fans held their breath when Cobh right-back Iestyn Hughes struck a thunderbolt just wide of the top corner. Treaty were not to be denied, and Boevi finished the game as he had started; with a dominating headed clearance.
The stand was in full party mode not long after, as the referee blew the full-time whistle. The Treaty United supporters were in full voice the whole night, singing about their side putting on a show. The players didn’t disappoint, delivering a performance that delighted the Limerick contingent among the 1,849 in attendance.
Tonight’s other semi-final between UCD and Bray Wanderers saw the away side steal it at the death, with Cian Doyle grabbing the winner in the 94th minute to bring a 1–0 lead back to Bray.
Treaty United (4-2-3-1): Chambers; O’Connor, Boevi, Martin, Lynch, L. Lynch ©, Conroy, O’Sullivan, Devitt, Byrne, Ferry.
Subs: Hanson for Ferry (60), Lee for Lynch (89).
Goals: Hanson (76).
Yellow cards: Conroy (34), O’Connor (80).
Cobh Ramblers (4-3-3): Martin; Hughes, O’Keefe, Griffin ©, Bargary, Coffey, Murphy, Gourdie, Coleman, Häkkinen, McGlade.
Subs: Bellis for McGlade (72), Whelan for Gourdie (83).
Goals: None.
Yellow cards: Murphy (85).
Referee: Oliver Moran