OUR 2024/25 season review starts with last summer as the Bannsiders entered full-time football for the first time in the club’s history…
Before a ball was kicked, there was major change off the pitch as the Stripes entered full-time football for the very first time which led to a management restructure. As a result, Dean Shiels was appointed head coach, with Oran Kearney moving into a sporting director role. Elsewhere, Winkie Murphy left as assistant manager to be replaced by Michael O’Connor.
Amid pre-season fixtures, Coleraine transformed their squad in the first two months of the summer as Cameron Stewart, Kyle McClelland, Kirk McLaughlin, Dylan Boyle, Rhyss Campbell, Max Little, Ciaron Harkin (loan), Kyle Spence and Mackenzie Carse all joined the club.
Those arrivals led to departures as long-serving trio Marty Gallagher, Aaron Jarvis and Stephen O’Donnell left, with Lewis Tosh, Lee Lynch and Eamon Fyfe also moving on. Teenage winger Luca Doherty also made the move to Moyola Park on loan. The club previously announced in May that Adam Mullan, Darren Cole, Jake Wallace, Rodney Brown and Jack O’Mahony would be leaving.
The players were quickly put to the task in July as they fulfilled a total of eight pre-season fixtures. The first was against Comber Rec as Kirk McLaughlin, Trialist 2 (2), Jamie McGonigle and Sam McClintock all scored in a 5-2 success. A split squad would then take on H&W Welders on the same day as Jamie Glackin’s second-half double paved the way for a 2-0 victory.
The following weekend, Coleraine split their squads yet again for games against Moyola Park and Limavady United. First up was an away clash against Moyola Park as a youthful side battled to a 3-1 success in Castledawson as Sam McClintock netted twice, with the win secured via a late own goal. A few hours later, Coleraine found themselves 3-1 ahead at the interval against Limavady as Kirk McLaughlin (2) and Trialist 1 were on the scoresheet. The triumph was completed at the Limavady Showgrounds after the interval as Jack Scott rounded-off a 4-1 win.
The preparations continued the following weekend as two teams were fielded for friendlies at home to Dergview and Armagh City. Ultimately, two first-half goals were enough to beat Dergview in the opening game through efforts from Trialist 1 and Sam McClintock. In the second friendly, Coleraine found Championship side Armagh City a tough nut to crack despite having several opportunities on goal. However, the deadlock was broken on the hour mark as the ball broke to Matthew Shevlin inside the box and the ex-Ballymena man made no mistake by arrowing into the back of the net.
The annual Wes Gregg Memorial match went in the way of Coleraine as they sealed a narrow 1-0 success at Seahaven. After a goalless first-half – which included Sam McClintock missing a penalty – the Bannsiders would edge ahead on 89 minutes as Senan Devine blasted home the winner. The next day, Coleraine welcomed Championship opponents Annagh United to the Ballycastle Road. The Bannsiders had a good work-out and grinded out a 2-0 success through first-half goals from Trialist and Matthew Shevlin.