Kearney happy to progress into the next round

COLERAINE manager Oran Kearney addressed the media after watching his side leave it late to beat Ballyclare Comrades last night…

Ian Parkhill’s 93rd minute strike left visiting ‘keeper Kyle Rowe rooted to the spot and ensured that the Bannsiders would be in the hat for Saturday’s third round draw.

The Stripes spurned several guilt-edged chances after the break to make the victory smoother but Kearney was simply relieved to reach the next round.

“It’s always the same team talk on nights like this in the second round of this competition, particularly against strong Championship opposition like Ballyclare who notoriously start the season well,” Kearney said.

“You’re just so wary that you don’t exit the competition and there were already some shocks this evening.

“The key thing is to be in the hat for the next round regardless of how you do it, but it would be nice if it was smoother.

“The second-half we created an endless amount of chances but it seemed to be the harder we tried, the worse it got.

“Fair play to the lads as they stuck at it, kept knocking on the door and Ian pops up with a bit of brilliance to save us extra-time.”

The boss was full of praise for Ballyclare’s performance as the Dixon Park outfit have made a strong start to the new Bluefin Sport Championship campaign.

“It’s the second round of the competition, but I suppose for Ballyclare it was like a cup final for them,” he added.

“They deserve a huge amount of credit as they played out of their skin, but we knew they started their season well and had a good squad of players.

“I wouldn’t say it was a shock with how well they played as we were expecting a tough game and you could probably gauge that with how strong our line-up was.”

Kearney paid tribute to Jamie McGonigle and Ian Parkhill for getting on the scoresheet at The Showgrounds.

“I would like to see it back but I think it’s unjust to Jamie to say the goal was fortunate as he hits a shot that makes the ‘keeper look silly but also it’s got a huge amount of movement on it,” Kearney concluded.

“It was a great strike and it came at the right time to get us back into the game.

“Parky’s goal is probably the hardest chance of the second-half considering the other ones we created.

“I think as soon as Parky jinks inside, he isn’t missing it and it’s a great finish.”