All looking like they are ready to take the step up. Also good that the 3 of them played together last season so all should link up well for you
Phil Jagielka is managing in your league? I mustn't have picked that up before, cool.
All three certainly have their own claim. It will be a difficult decision to make for McDonald but one that every manager must relish.
All three look like they're ready to make an impact for you this season. No-one will expect the Spanish Inquisition!
One More Night in Rome
Aidan Cunningham had put the Cobh squad in the five-star Hotel Splendide Royal – one of the most luxurious hotels in Europe, set between Via Veneto and the beautiful gardens of Villa Borghese as a converted 19th-century monastery.
Conor McDonald was placed in the only ‘Superior Deluxe’ room in the hotel, costing €3,500 per night with its own private bar on the rooftop meanwhile the players shared rooms together.
He was sat upstairs with a rum and Coca-Cola with his notepad in front of him. He wasn’t actively working, just noting an idea down whenever it came into his head as his team were due to face AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico tomorrow evening.
His team had four players out for the Second Leg with suspensions. They were key players too, Kyle Magennis, Kern Hernandez, Peter Barnes and Alan Thompson all had to be swapped out after they had been booked in the 1-0 victory back in Ireland.
As McDonald pondered the changes, he felt a sharp digging into his shoulder, causing him to flinch and turn back to see who was there. It was Saoirse Byrne who he had met at the Cork Christmas Lights Turn-On back in late November.
Conor had gone out for a few drinks with her following their time on stage and they got on very well that evening. However, due to their work diaries with Conor’s football and Saoirse’s politics, they had not got the chance to meet again despite exchanging phone numbers on the evening.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Saoirse said with a gleaming smile. She looked fantastic in her white flowery evening dress and her wavy dark brown hair.
Conor stood to his feet, shocked yet delighted to see her again. “Saoirse!” He exclaimed, holding her shoulders before kissing her twice on the cheeks before stepping back to pull a chair out for her. “I never thought I’d be seeing you here, please, take a seat!”
She sat herself down beside Conor, facing towards the beautiful gardens past the road.
“Well, we only live thirty minutes away at home yet it has taken us all the way to Italy to finally see each other again,” she laughed as she raised her hand to call over a waiter. “It must be written in the stars.”
The conversation paused for the waiter to put down her placemat as well as her drink of red wine, which she sipped before nodding her head – a cue for the waiter to fill her glass up more.
“Well I’m here because I have just had to meet with the Italian ambassador as well as their Minister of Foreign Affairs which, by the way, they wish you the worst of luck against them tomorrow,” she laughed.
Conor laughed along, realising that Cobh’s name was really beginning to get out there. “I’m sure they did,” Conor said. “Will you be attending tomorrow evening?”
“Well, I haven’t got a ticket and I just assumed that they had sold out,” she said, smirking subtly as she waited for an official invitation.
“Well, if that is the case then I suppose you had better extend your stay in the capital because I would like you in those executive boxes for tomorrow, on me.” Conor said, writing in his notepad the details for which he would need to remember to get Saoirse a ticket for tomorrow’s game.
“Would you now?” She smiled as she watched Conor writing. “Well, I suppose it wouldn’t be a terrible loss to Irish democracy if I were to stay and watch one of my constituents’ most beloved stars at work.”
Saoirse leaned in to kiss Conor on the cheek before Conor turned his head to look at her before she could return to her previous position. They kissed for the first time, overlooking Via Trionfale.
tedbro20: Absolutely, Waterford did a good job with them and they did a good job for Waterford
Tango: I was actually going to call it that
Griffo: Indeed he is, he's doing rather well actually!
Scott: There is definitely space for them all in the first-team, it's just a matter of proving it.
Zed: I think so too! I'm a big fan of Pelayo Ventura personally.
Rome reminds me of romance, tradition, history, abnormally expensive restaurant bills, and the worst male-female beauty ratio I've ever seen
It is going to be a tough game against Roma losing both of your starting center backs which makes the signing of Berry look even better than it already did. Going into the game with a one goal lead is certainly a good place to be but you are going to need to be great at the back to keep them out and taking home the win.
Personally, Conor seems to be enjoying himself no matter what
Personally, Conor seems to be enjoying himself no matter what
That Night in Rome
As the team bus crossed over the Ponte Duca D’Aosta bridge, the dream started to become more real for the squad as they stared at the magnificent architecture of the Stadio Olimpico and the rural-esque backdrop of Saint Andrew’s Garden behind it.
Cobh Ramblers entered the Second Leg with a 1-0 lead over Roma. However, this came at a cost of four suspensions to key players, with Kyle Magennis, Kern Hernandez, Peter Barnes and Alan Thompson all out for the fixture today.
Conor McDonald did spend the night with Cork East’s Teachta Dála, Saoirse Byrne last night but he already had a plan of action for tonight. Saoirse watching down from the heavens only motivated Conor to really put a show on tonight for the fans back home to welcome their returning heroes. He just had to put it into action with a greatly reduced team.
After the final team-talk and the tunnel interview, Conor made his way to the dugout. He had packed a pair of binoculars to take with him onto the pitch. Upon reaching the technical box, he looked back to the Tribuna Monte Mario stand where right at the top, Saoirse was spectating. He spotted her in the seats at a good time as they waved to each other from what felt like a million miles away, yet she was firmly implanted in Conor’s head.
Cobh’s starting eleven was still reasonably strong, with the exception of Under-19s player Gerard Higgins having to fill in at left-back for the suspended Alan Thompson. It was on the bench where Cobh really struggled. Conor only had three first-team players on the bench, with the remaining four seats occupied by the inexperienced Under-19s players that no other club had wanted to loan in when offered in January.
Roma were the ones to kick off the game as a resounding roar of 63,000 fans from the capital got behind their team. The noise and the location placed Conor back in school history lessons when he learned about the Roman gladiators fighting in front of huge crowds at the ancient Coliseum. This was just an updated version.
In the first few minutes, both teams were fighting it out with nobody establishing themselves as the dominant team. Pelayo Ventura’s attempted cross only met the Roma left-back before finding its way to Cengiz Under. From being deep in their own half, a long ball forward found its way to Cristante who went on a blistering run into the penalty area, asserting dominance over Cobh’s fill-in left-back Gerard Higgins. Conor’s head dropped as Bandista’s cross came in to the far post as Cengiz Under tapped it in for Roma’s first in the seventh minute, bringing the game level on aggregate.
With bookings for both sides, another chance came up in the 22nd minute. Higgins’ long throw was headed away to Granger. Eneko’s pass to Cian Kavanagh got Conor to his feet as his team were on the edge of the box. Kavanagh’s lay-off led to Cobh’s Chris Savage thundering a ball past Pau López to make it 2-1 on aggregate. Even better, Cobh had an away goal, meaning Roma needed two goals to be back in the lead.
Cengiz Under was proving to be a problem for Cobh against his inexperienced opposite number. He swung in a free-kick that went straight out for a goal kick before the referee blew his whistle and paused the play as he pushed his earpiece further into his ear. He rushed over to the penalty area before pointing to the spot as Browning was punished for an apparent push on Paredes from the VAR. Tsygankov tucked away the penalty as the confidence oozed back into Roma.
Emerson had a throw-in in the far corner but it was lumped forward to Chris Savage who beat his opponent with pace. As Savage closed in on goal, the Cobh bench rose again. Basili was catching up as he entered the box but Savage tucked it away for Cobh’s second goal and more importantly, their second away goal.
As more chances came Roma’s way, the better Lee McCormick was adjusting to their shots and attacks with two magnificent saves.
Conor slyly smiled towards the corporate boxes as Saoirse sipped quietly on her glass of wine in the midst of nervous and frustrated well-dressed Italian men.
Cobh returned to the field impressively as Chris Savage went one-on-one but unfortunately was denied by Pau López.
This continued with some impressive work from Eneko who took on the task of helping Gerard Higgins deal with Cengiz Under on the Roma right-wing. The Spaniard put through Adrian Granger with another great chance going astray thanks to the well-tuned goalkeeping instincts of Pau López. Whilst it was a shame these chances weren’t converted; Conor was happy that his little club from East Cork were taking the game to the Romans.
Conor’s heart dropped when his team’s positive second-half came to a standstill in the 82nd minute. Cengiz Under received the ball after a penalty box scramble, slotting the ball past Lee McCormick. The goal seemed like it had been given with the Roma players grabbing hold of the ball, ready to score another to turn the tie around completely. Then the shrill sound of the referee’s whistle deafened the celebrations in the stands as his arm was held out to the right, in the direction of Roma’s goal. The referee had called it offside as the VAR came into use once again, only in favour of Cobh.
The goal was disallowed and the Cobh bench celebrated, all apart from Conor, who took Roma’s goal as a message of a team who were prepared to take Cobh on no matter what the score.
The Roma attacks continued all through the remaining ten minutes but the makeshift Cobh defence held still, thwarting anything the Italians threw at them. It was only in the 93rd minute when Roma finally found their way past as Fabio Bandista scored to make the score 3-3 on aggregate.
However, the stands were already emptying, as though a symbol of the amount of time Roma had to save their European advancement.
Then there it was, the referee’s whistle blew three times with Eneko on the ball. Game over. Cobh Ramblers had gone to the Italian capital and taken them out of the Europa League in their own beautiful city.
The Cobh players rejoiced on the pitch along with the coaches but there was only one place Conor McDonald was looking. Grabbing his binoculars, he scanned the angry faces of the AS Roma supporters before finally finding what he wanted – Saoirse Byrne was in the corporate boxes, pointing and laughing at the hysterical Roman millionaires.
Conor laughed to himself. “That’s my girl.”
Tango: You've put Rome perfectly in just one sentence. Remarkable.
tedbro20: No better way to ease the tensions
Seb: The amount of players missing from the team is ridiculous for a game of this magnitude so Berry will be crucial. Conor and Saoirse on the other hand seem pretty happy with life as you said!
Holy hell
Not only is Conor setting the world alight on the pitch, but he's doing well off the pitch too. TO knock out Roma is an awesome achievement for a little club from Ireland, and should help boost the coefficients, along with your reputation.
2020-06-09 23:35#273734 J_ames :
This pretty much sums it up haha, do we hijack this story and make McDonald into McGregor J_ames?
What a game. Such am impressive result to go to Rome and take the game to them. This form could see Cobh go all the way
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