Match Reaction

Kearney rues lady luck

COLERAINE boss Oran Kearney admits a piece of misfortunate led to a frustrating two points dropped against Glentoran last night…

The Bannsiders had turned the game on its head to lead 2-1 at The Oval but an unfortunate own goal by Josh Carson meant both teams had to settle for a share of the spoils.

Kearney remarked that his troops didn’t get off to the best possible start as Jay Donnelly smashed home the opener on six minutes, but after surviving several scares, he felt Coleraine steadied the ship and equalised through Matthew Shevlin’s header.

The second-half provided less goal mouth action but Shevlin put Coleraine back in front on 70 minutes, and just when it looked like the visitors were going to pocket a valuable three points, they were pegged back in unfortunate circumstances as Josh Carson’s tackle meant the ball looped over Martin Gallagher and into his own net to restore parity.

Kearney admitted that Carson was “devastated” in the changing room and that an equaliser didn’t look like happening as his side were managing the game well.

The boss gave individual praise to Shevlin not only for his two goals but his endless energy levels and that he was pleased to see the return of Adam Mullan, Ben Doherty and Curtis Allen to the matchday squad.

Coleraine and Glentoran do it all again on Friday night and Kearney insists the Bannsiders will approach it like any other game.