Kearney frustrated not to keep clean sheet

COLERAINE manager Oran Kearney was left frustrated after his side conceded a sloppy equaliser against Ballymena United at The Showgrounds…

The Bannsiders had taken a first-half lead through Jamie McGonigle, but the Braidmen responded with Kyle Owens’ deflected header finding the bottom corner – much to Kearney’s frustration.

“We knew the long throw was coming and the header was going into Chris Johns’ arms, but Aaron Traynor sticks out a leg and it goes into the goal,” Kearney said.

“We are frustrated with that as we have kept three clean sheets in a row, and ideally when you go one-nil ahead, especially on a day like today, you expect something magnificent to change the game.

“Something as cheap as that is disappointing from our point of view.”

There was to be a boost for the Stripes in the second-half as Eoin Bradley made his return from a knee injury sustained in September. Furthermore, Kearney revealed that midfielder Brad Lyons won’t be out for too long ahead of a busy schedule of fixtures.

“It’s brilliant to have Eoin back and he’s worked tremendously hard with his rehab,” Kearney continued.

“He is a vital player for us and his loss has put an awful lot of responsibility on Jamie McGonigle, but he’s been brilliant in the last few months.

“We want to have our best players back on the pitch and it’s great to see him out there.

“Brad isn’t as bad we first thought and we hope to welcome him back to training on Thursday night.

“We will have to see how he is in relation to playing against Cliftonville.”

The draw meant Coleraine’s lead at the top of the Danske Bank Premiership has been cut to four points, but Kearney insists his players will be solely focused on Saturday’s clash against Cliftonville.

“Our big aim when we had injuries to players was to challenge the squad to still be top by Christmas,” Kearney added.

“It’s great to be around the top of the table and I hope we can keep it going.

“We have Cliftonville next and we are anticipating a tough battle at Solitude.”