Captain’s Column

COLERAINE captain Stephen O’Donnell believes his team-mates will have to learn from last season’s trips to Windsor Park if they are to secure a result tomorrow afternoon…

Looking back at last week’s result and I think we can be satisfied with our performance and delighted with the three points. It was a difficult game against a good Institute side. Every away game is tough in our league but Saturday was particularly difficult for a number of reasons. Firstly, we were playing against a good Institute side who have won a lot of games this season and have been very impressive since their return to the top flight. Secondly, the fact that it was away and the kick off had been brought forward made it a difficult trip for a number of our players. For the few Derry boys we have in the squad, it was a nice change to make the short trip to the Brandywell. However, for some of our players like Burnsy and Chris, this meant an early rise and a long trip to the game. Now that may not sound like much of an inconvenience, but believe me, leaving the house early on a Saturday can affect your preparation for games. Some players have their own routines and some players have certain things they like to do before games. One Coleraine player, before my time at the club, was known to brush his teeth religiously before games. Whether or not that made him perform any better, I can’t testify to that. But that is definitely one of the weirder ones I have heard. To be fair to our lads, there was no complaints, no disruption and the performance was good enough to win all three points.

The final thing that we had to contest with was the weather. For anyone who was at the Brandywell, I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a fantastic set up. However, it is very open at either end and becomes really exposed to the conditions. The weather is never an excuse, you’ll never see me attributing or blaming any result on the weather. At this time of year especially, it’s something we’re accustomed to, but sometimes it’s worse than others. Particularly on Saturday the conditions were difficult, and it really disrupted the flow of the game. However, in the second half especially, we maybe sacrificed how our performance looked to ensure we came away with all three points. That was the most pleasing thing for me on Saturday. We managed the game and conditions really well and restricted Institute to few chances and seen the game out. So from the outside looking in it may have looked like a routine win and three points, but for me it was a really pleasing result for the reasons just mentioned. Hopefully that can set us up to try and put a run of results together, starting this Saturday against Linfield.

This Saturday’s game against Linfield will be a good test for us and one that we are all relishing. Linfield at home was Rodney’s first official game in charge and a lot has happened since then. We have maybe taken a few weeks to get to where Rodney wants us to be in terms of style of play and performances. However, I feel that we are now getting closer to that, particularly in the last couple of weeks. We should have got a result against Cliftonville and the boys were unlucky to go out of the League Cup to Glentoran on penalties. We could be sitting here unbeaten in four, but we’re not. In the last four games the performances have improved and the boys are all beginning to understand exactly what the manager wants in possession, in transition when the ball turns over and out of possession. This Saturday gives us a big opportunity to put that into practice against a good Linfield side who have started the season really well. There has been a lot of talk this week about who will be playing and who won’t be playing for Linfield. For me it doesn’t matter. Whichever 11 start the game on Saturday will be strong and we will have to perform to our best to win all three points. For me its really important that we go there and put in a positive performance, particularly in the first half. We went there twice last season and found ourselves 2-0 down on both occasions. Coming back to draw and losing the other. If we adapt early and start bright, I’m confident we can come out on top and win the game.

We welcomed back Parky back into the squad last week and it was great to see him back out on the pitch again on Saturday. Whether it’s from the bench or starting, Parky loves playing for Coleraine and his energy and pace can influence games. Hopefully in the next few weeks we will see James come back in again and big G come through a tough spell were he has been playing injured and putting himself on the line for the boys. Jamie has also been carrying a knock recently and the chance to rest completely over the weekend and the start of this week will have done him the world of good. Hopefully he can get himself back into the team and back to scoring goals as soon as possible. Finally, I’m sure it won’t be long before we see Lyndon Kane back involved. He has started the next stage of his recovery and all the boys are delighted for him to get back onto the grass and starting to rebuild his fitness again. He’s a top player and a top lad and the boys are delighted for him, but I’ll save all that until he makes that long awaited come back. Keep working hard mate.

Whether it’s from the bench or starting, Parky loves playing for Coleraine and his energy and pace can influence games.

As always, I hope we can take a big away support down to Linfield. That 2-2 draw last season really stuck with me as a showing of force from the blue and white army. 2-0 down at half time and you could have turned on us. You could have booed and you could have got upset as the Linfield fans laughed us off the pitch. We came out in the second half and the noise of the Coleraine fans rang around Windsor Park. You lifted us that day. We were dead and buried at half time and to come out to that response in the second half was unbelievable. You drove us on that day, you were the difference. Hopefully we can get that atmosphere going again on Saturday and we can put in a performance to match it.

C’mon the Bannsiders!

Stephen O’Donnell