A day to forget for Coleraine saw the Bannsiders flattened 6-0 by a rampant Glentoran at The Oval…
By: Charlie Cooke
Oran Kearney made four changes to the starting eleven which saw skipper Stephen O’Donnell return for the suspended Lyndon Kane, whilst Dean Jarvis was also ruled out through suspension as Graham Kelly deputised.
Furthermore, Jake Wallace replaced Jack O’Mahony who was named on the bench and Jamie McGonigle made his first start after returning to the Bannsiders at the expense of the injured Jamie Glackin.
With barely one minute on the clock the Glens took the lead through David Fisher after miscommunication at the back from the Bannsiders led to the striker getting through on goal for an easy tap-in.
After the disappointing start, Coleraine settled as McGonigle forced Ollie Webber into a save after flicking Lee Lynch’s corner-kick goalwards.
As we approached the half hour mark a brilliant piece of defending by Lynch saw him block Bobby Burns’ shot from just outside the penalty area.
Soon after, Aaron Jarvis did extremely well to break away from his marker and find Lynch on the right wing without breaking his stride. The midfielder carried the ball into the box and saw his shot go inches by the post. Moments later, the same player found himself in the same position but his volley was off target.
At the end of the first half, the Glens doubled their lead through Fisher who also doubled his goal tally after a long ball broke the Coleraine defensive line. This allowed the ball to be controlled by the Englishman and he slotted the ball beyond Brown into the net.
Three minutes into the second half, Glentoran were awarded a penalty after a tangle in the box resulted in Junior going down inside the box. This allowed Fisher to complete his hat-trick as he calmly dispatched from 12 yards.
With 52 minutes played, Junior pounced on a loose ball that was meant for Brown and rounded the ‘keeper to tap the ball home for 4-0.
Two minutes later, Junior saw his long range shot cannon off the upright which meant he had a second bite at the cherry to place the ball into the bottom corner for Glentoran’s fifth.
Warren Feeney’s side were becoming rampant and the ball broke to Bobby Burns at the edge of the box whose long-range daisycutter went into the bottom corner for 6-0.
As we entered the last 15 minutes, substitute Lee Harkin regained possession for the Bannsiders and worked the ball to Jack Scott whose shot was well held by Webber.
The last action of the game saw Harkin force Webber into a save from just inside the box but the ball was too close to the ‘keeper.
Coleraine’s next fixture in Sports Direct Irish Premiership is Carrick Rangers at The Showgrounds next Saturday.
GLENTORAN: Webber (Donnelly ’90 mins), McCullough, Wilson, Burns (Clucas ’72 mins), O’Connor, Sule (Marshall ’65 mins), Fisher (J. Donnelly ’65 mins), McClean, Russell (Walsh ’65 mins), McGinn, Junior.
Subs Not Used: Kane, McCartan.
COLERAINE: Brown, Kelly, A. Jarvis, McDaid (Lowry ’62 mins), Farren (Harkin ’70 mins), O’Donnell, Lynch (O’Mahony ’62 mins), J. Scott, McGonigle (Shevlin ’58 mins), Wallace, A. Scott.
Subs Not Used: Gallagher (GK), Cole, Devine.
Referee: Jamie Robinson