The Candy Stripes could have so easily opened the scoring in the first 30 seconds when winger, Niall McGinn latched onto an Eddie McCallion pass on the right. McGinn fired the ball into the area but Derry striker Mark Farren sliced his effort wide of the post.

Derry enjoyed the majority share of possession in the opening period but consistently failed to turn their dominance into anything tangible. The inability to impose their game upon their opponents nearly saw Stephen Kenny's team concede in the 25th minute.

A ball played forward from the Cobh defence was chased down by Ramblers forward Kieren O'Rielly. O'Rielly sprinted towards the left only to drag the ball back to left winger Michael Mulcroney who in turn squared his pass to the inrushing John Kearney. Kearney connected with the ball well but failed to put it outside the comfort zone of Gerard Doherty who saved with relative ease.

Although the Foylesiders must take responsibility for their lack of creativity; Cobh central defender, Kevin Murray, was impressive in the way he dealt with the continual aerial assaults from both McGinn and Owen Morrison. The tall centre back consistantly frustrated the Derry forward line of Conor Sammon and Mark Farren with his strength in the air and several well timed tackles.

The Brandywell faithful voiced their opinion on Mr. Tom Connelly's decision to deny a penalty on not one but two occasions. In the 34th minute McGinn raced clear of both Mulcroney and John Meade on the right. Winger Mulcroney appeared to click the former Dungannon Swifts man's heels but Mr. Connolly waved for play to continue.

Minutes later and Gareth McGlynn pumped a freekick forward into the Cobh area. Mark Farren failed to connect with his head convincingly and the ball appeared to hit defender Kenny Coloman on the hand but again the referee refused to point to the spot.

In first half injury time McGinn had a fantastic chance to open the scoring but thumped his shot straight at James McCarthy from inside the area.

Cobh appeared to totally lose sight of their game plan in the second half but Derry failed to air on the side of caution and there were still chances a plenty for county Cork side.

Derry's insistence on focusing the majority of the their offence down the right hand side paid dividends in the 50th minute when Mark Farren converted an inch perfect Eddie McCallion cross.

Collecting the ball from McGinn, McCallion sprinted into the Cobh danger area and blasted his pass towards the Cobh six-yard box and FARREN was positioned perfectly to bundle the ball home from close distance.

In the 62nd minute McGinn nearly eclipsed the earlier pass of McCallion when he crossed to the near post. Had Greencastle native Farren reached the pass a fraction of a second earlier then Derry would have almost certainly have been celebrating their second of the evening. However, it was not to be as it was gathered comfortably by McCarthy.

The home side started to let complacency infect their concentration and they had only Gerard Doherty to thank for the non-occurrence of an equaliser in the 65th minute.

Mulcroney threaded the ball through to John Kearney inside the Derry area. As Kearney unleashed his shot Doherty appeared to be going to his right. However, with a truly magnificent reflex save the Creggan shot stopper touched the ball round the post with his left hand and the danger was averted.

Cobh's fruitless efforts were further compounded when Alan Meade received a straight red card for a professional foul on Mark Farren. As Farren raced clear, Meade was the last man in defence and a clumsy challenge left the referee with no choice but to send him off.

Minutes later and Kenny Coloman nearly turned the ball into his own net. From an Owen Morrison freekick, Colomon connected with an outstretched leg but McCarthy was at hand and gathered comfortably.

Stephen Henderson's men thought that they had attained the impossible when O'Reilly put the ball past Doherty in the 70th minute. However the Ramblers striker was adjudged to have been offside and their celebrations were in earnest.

The remainder of the game brought moments of discomfort for Stephen Kenny and there can be no argument that Derry must improve if they are to build upon Friday night's result. Be that as it may, it was the Dubliner's first Premier League win in five games and Derry still remain unbeaten at Brandywell.

DERRY CITY: (4-4-2) Gerard Doherty; Eddie McCallion, Peter Hutton, Steven Gray, Clive Delaney; Barry Molloy, Owen Morrison (Kevin Deery, 90mins) Gareth McGlynn, Niall McGinn (Ruairdhi Higgins 73mins), Conor Sammon (Kevin McHugh 81mins), Mark Farren.

COBH RAMBLERS: (4-5-1) James McCarthy; Alan Carey, John Meade, Kevin Murray, John Kearny; Kieran O'Reilly, Graham Cummins (Roy Long 87mins), Michael Mulcroney, Gareth Cambridge; Brian McCarthy, Kenny Coloman (Davin O'Neill 83mins).

REFEREE: Mr. T. Connolly (Dublin).