Levels Apart

COLERAINE boss Oran Kearney believes his side didn’t match the same level of performance from their previous win against Crusaders back in October…

The Bannsiders would be forced to settle for a share of the spoils in a below-par contest at The Showgrounds as chances were few and far between.

Coleraine have only scored one goal in their last four Danske Bank Premiership assignments and Kearney is keen for his side to hit the back of the net on a regular basis once again.

“It is frustrating,” Kearney told Coleraine TV after the game.

“Last year we were disappointed as when you looked over the 38 games overall, we just felt we didn’t score enough goals.

“However, this year we definitely have when you look at our goals for column from where we were last season and we were one of the top goalscorers in the league up until the last few weeks.

“The sad part is that there have been two or three games this season where it has ended 0-0 and I don’t remember in the last season or two having as many scoreless draws.

“It is frustrating from that point of view and we scored lots of goals on Tuesday night and we can’t get one today.

“You’d have taken three today and three on Tuesday and that would have been a better balance.”

Kearney acknowledged that his players haven’t been as proficient across the pitch in recent weeks as they remain in sixth spot in the table.

“It’s finding that consistency as number one we are creating chances but I think chances were at a premium today,” he added.

“There’s been other games like Glenavon at home where it finished 0-0 but we’ve had a mountain of chances and we haven’t put the ball in the net.

“I think across the pitch today we weren’t doing our jobs as well as we have done recently so we could create the quality of chance that we need to score a goal and I think that’s the part that disappoints.

“Crusaders are a very good side, and after beating them in the last few years, we know the level we need to be at to win against them.

“I just feel today, and you’ve got to look within, and we always ask ourselves what we could do better and I just feel we didn’t hit the levels that our performance did when we beat Crusaders 2-0 earlier in the season.”

The Stripes were able to give James McLaughlin more minutes on the pitch as he continues his return back into the first-team squad following injury ahead of Wednesday night’s clash against Glentoran.

“It was good to see James getting a few more minutes,” Kearney continued.

“Curtis is back out training as well so we are moving into that area where we are close to getting a full squad again.

“We are looking forward to getting those boys back out there.

“It is a monster tie.

“Looking at today’s game and the clash on Wednesday, you’re probably saying if you could take at least four points would be brilliant and six would be super.

“We’ve got one today so we’ve got to put ourselves under pressure to try and hit the three.”