Conor McDonald: The Student

Cobh Ramblers have continued their phenomenal run in Europe with a victory over Pep Guardiola’s Sevilla.

Conor McDonald were beaten in the First Leg of the Europa League Second Knockout Round at Thomond Park as Sevilla’s Manu Morlanes scored the only goal of the game and a vital away goal in Ireland.

With many expecting their First Leg win to be a starting pistol on a successful reign led by Guardiola following his appointment after the sacking of Julen Lopetegui in December with five years at Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, the tie was overturned with a 3-1 win in Spain.

43,000 fans crowded into the stadium to watch their team qualify for the Quarter-Finals but they were stunned as Chris Savage drew the tie level on aggregate with a goal in the 22nd minute.

Cobh were not finished by any means, scoring a very important second away goal through former Liverpool striker Layton Stewart.

Irish centre-back Peter Barnes put his team 3-1 up on aggregate and with three away goals, Sevilla needed three goals for themselves in twenty minutes if they wanted to turn the tie on its head for a third time.

30-year-old midfielder Joan Jordán did pull one back in the 80th minute but ultimately Sevilla’s time in Europe was up with Cobh winning 3-2 on aggregate.

Cobh’s involvement in Europe this season starts all the way back in the First Qualifying Round of the Champions League before dropping out of the Group Stages. In the Europa League, they won on away goals at Roma’s Stadio Olimpico and will now face Hertha Berlin in the Europa League Quarter-Finals.

Pep Guardiola:
Obviously I am very disappointed that my time in Seville has started this way in Europe. The fact is that Cobh are a very well-organised team and credit is due to the manager, McDonald for creating that. He should be very proud of how his team played this evening and I certainly would not be surprised to see them go all of the way.

Cobh will play the First Leg of the Quarter-Final at Thomond Park on Thursday, 10th April before travelling to the German capital one week later for the Second Leg.

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Scott: I can't wait for her character development, just to see your reactions.
James: The Conor Mc's really do have things in common
Griffo: You two are just awful to have in the comments section
tedbro20: You'd think if we can do Roma, we can go all the way!
Tango: Put it on club expenses

I don't expect anything better from Guardiola without money

Beating a mastermind like Pep, regardless of whether some view him as a fraud, is astonishing for the players and especially Conor. There is nothing this team can't do. Absolutely magical.

Conor McGregor knocking off Pep... is like beating Aldo in thirteen seconds... EPIC!

Can't believe I managed to find footage of the post-game press conference online I think it's safe to say: McDonald > Pellegri. Huge result for the club, your ability to score away from home in uncanny and shows the spirit of the squad. Can't see you having many issues against Berlin personally, but it'd be the ultimate f*** you from FM if you got by Roma and Sevilla.... only to get beaten by Hertha

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Cobh began February – the month that starts the new Irish Premier League – with a double-figure victory over Leinster Senior League’s Home Farm. Along with topping the table at the end of the month, they advanced in the Europa League.

There were three hat-tricks against Home Farm with Conor Carty scoring five and three goals each for Chris Savage and Cian Kavanagh.

Pelayo Ventura, Martin Berry and José Antonio Castro all made their Cobh debuts in the President’s Cup as they defeated the FAI Cup victors Waterford in a 3-0 win at St. Colman’s Park.

Cobh made a great start to the Premier League with a 4-1 win over last year’s runners-up Dundalk with Adrian Granger helping along the way with a brace.

The scoring continued with the added bonus of a clean sheet in a 3-0 win against Shamrock Rovers as Kern Hernandez and Conor Carty (2) scored all three on the way to the top of the league.

The club’s debut in the Europa League was a great success at Thomond Park in the First Knockout Round First Leg as Chris Savage scored the only goal of the game to put Cobh ahead when they were to travel to the Italian capital the next week.

With a big fixture coming up in Italy, Cobh played Sligo Rovers at St. Colman’s Park on the Sunday. Layton Stewart scored the first before Paul Rooney scored in his own goal for Cobh’s second.

Cobh then secured their place in the next round of the Europa League at Stadio Olimpico in Rome despite losing 3-2 on the night. Roma had a goal disallowed by VAR as Cobh went through on away goals.

At the end of the first month, only Cobh and Waterford scored maximum points but Conor McDonald’s side topped the league on goal difference.

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In March, Cobh Ramblers went one step further in Europe with a win over Pep Guardiola’s Sevilla as well as maintaining their 100% win record in the league.

The month started at Thomond Park for the home leg in the Second Knockout Round where Manu Morlanes’ goal in the 68th minute meant Sevilla headed into the Second Leg with an away goal advantage.

A Cork derby game was next up as Conor Carty put Cork City to bed with a hat-trick in a 6-1 victory at Turners Cross. Chris Savage also scored a brace with Kern Hernandez bagging Cobh’s sixth.

Cobh returned to the Europa League for the Second Leg with a mountain to climb against Guardiola’s Sevilla. The 1-0 defeat in the reverse leg was magnificently overturned in Seville as Cobh won 3-1 at Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán in front of 43,000 fans. The Second Knockout Round therefore ended 3-2 in favour of Cobh Ramblers.

Cobh’s positive ending to their latest Europa League adventure continued in the league with two consecutive 5-0 wins against the bottom two of the Premier League.

Chris Savage scored a hat-trick in the first game against Shelbourne with two other goals from Cian Kavanagh and an own goal from Shelbourne’s Rob Cornwall.

The final game of the month was against Derry City who have yet to pick up a point in the eight games they have played. Two braces from Conor Carty and Kyle Magennis led the way, backed up by another from Chris Savage helped the 5-0 win.

At the end of March, Cobh still lead the way in the league by four points now, extending their lead over 2nd place Waterford with a game-in-hand.

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Tango: Found out without it
Scott: For sure, it wasn't just McDonald's work with Pep, it was the players' job on the pitch against high-quality opponents that saw us through too.
Griffo: Loving the UFC comparisons
James: You got it I would definitely say McDonald > Pellegri at this point, by some distance! Hertha are a relaxing tie compared to our previous two so hopefully we can move forward - we've proven we can beat these teams time and time again!

Conor acknowledging the crowd after a 15 goal victory

You're going to walk the league it appears. Cobh desperately need to bring in Roy Keane as Conor's assistant, so that he can focus on more important things... like his relationship success in Europe. Form is definitely on your side, so the lads should be confident in getting past Hertha and securing the Europa League trophy. YOU CAN DO IT!

Another great service of results against Sevilla. I reckon the league is already wrapped up as sure you could win some of these games with your youth players now. Let's get everything thrown at Conor's relationship and the big away nights in Europe

Cobh Ramblers continued their form for defeating teams in the capital as Hertha Berlin were knocked out in the Europa League Quarter-Final following a 6-3 aggregate defeat.

Cobh have already beaten Roma and Sevilla so far in the competition after dropping out of the Champions League.

The First Leg took place at Thomond Park in Limerick, Ireland as Andrew Moran had a perfect debut for The Rams, scoring a goal in his first-ever senior appearance. Chris Savage and Conor Carty also scored to take Cobh to the German capital 3-1 up.

The Ramblers won 8-0 midweek in their domestic league against St. Patrick’s Athletic which no doubt fired them up for their travels on Thursday evening.

Things started off terribly for Hertha as their starting right-back Serge Aurier was shown a straight red card after just ten minutes.

Conor Carty and Chris Savage became The Old Lady’s biggest enemy as they opened the scoring at Berlin Olympiastadion with two more away goals, extending the tie to a 5-1 lead at half-time.

This meant Giovani Van Bronckhorst’s men had to scored five goals in the second half to even stand a chance of getting through to the next round.

Hertha’s Senegalese central midfielder Pape Cheikh Diop gave his fans a glimmer of hope with a goal just two minutes after the restart but Cobh’s promising right-midfielder Pelayo Ventura ensured that those hopes were dashed with Cobh’s sixth of the tie scored on the hour mark.

Diop scored his second of the game with eight minutes remaining but that was not going to be enough as Conor McDonald’s team celebrated once again in the Europa League.

Cobh will face another team from a capital city, being drawn against Arsenal in the Semi-Final with the First Leg coming up on 1st May.

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Griffo: Couldn't have put it better in words
James: Sadly Roy Keane has signed a new €17k per week contract at Watford so I can't see it happening Regardless, let's win this thing!
tedbro20: Without a doubt, the league has been weakened by the lack of UCL funding for Dundalk for example. I'm really trying to pile my resources into Europe now!

Disappointed at the luck of puns RE your victory over Berlin.

Very impressive run in the EL, especially given these are all not small teams, with Hertha always becoming a good team due to their investors.

I meant a Guardiola-without-money

without money he's just a mortal

and COBH IS GOING TOO FAR!

Pretty comfortable. I wouldn't rule Cobh out against Arsenal at all.

I'd fancy your chances against arsenal. Cobh have certainly shown that they can mix it with some big teams and the champions league could be a bit more interesting next season