Down Memory Lane

WITH the on-going help of club historian Hunter McClelland, colerainefc.com brings you the latest instalment of the ‘Down Memory Lane’ series as Ian McCoosh’s effort was enough to defeat Glentoran in 2002…

Date:

Saturday, February 9, 2002

Result:

Coleraine 1-0 Glentoran

Goals – McCoosh (‘7 mins)

Rory Hamill holds off the challenge of Paul Leeman

Report:

Coleraine moved to the top of the Premier Division with this win over morning leaders Glentoran who now slip to third.

The Bannsiders sit two points clear of the chasing pack but have played more games than anyone else and crucially three more than Portadown who remain in the runners-up spot despite taking an enforced rest for a second successive week.

It only took Coleraine seven minutes to open the scoring with what was ultimately the only goal of the game when Jody Tolan laid the ball off for Ian McCoosh to direct it past oncoming Glens ‘keeper Alan Gough. Glentoran made a spirited effort at hitting back almost immediately with a Tim McCann shot which Coleraine ‘keeper Ian Martin prevented from reaching the top corner.

This was followed by a Paul Leeman attempt which was blocked by Pat McAllister. Then, on 21 minutes, Coleraine almost doubled their lead when a Sean Armstrong effort was tipped over the bar by Gough with, from the resultant corner, a Paul Hegarty header being cleared off the line by Colin Nixon.

The Glens suffered a major setback just before the interval when Darren Lockhart received his marching orders for a two-footed tackle on McCoosh. Coleraine almost capitalised on their numerical advantage ten minutes into the second half when Armstrong headed against the post.

Then, a little later in the half, both Rory Hamill and Armstrong shot straight at Gough when well placed. Totally dominant they maintained the pressure right until the end and were almost rewarded with that elusive second goal deep into injury time when Stephen Beatty hit the crossbar but, in the end, McCoosh’s early strike proved enough to blow the race for the Gibson Cup wide open.

Line-ups:

COLERAINE: Martin, Gray, Flynn, Hegarty, Clanachan, Beatty, Hamill, McCoosh, Tolan, McAllister, Armstrong (McHugh).

Subs Not Used: Curran

GLENTORAN: Gough, Nixon, Ferguson, Walker, Leeman, Smyth, McCann, Armour (Halliday), Wright, Batey, Lockhart.

Subs Not Used: McCombe, Magowan

Referee:

David Best