OK hopes win is a ‘catalyst’ moving forward

COLERAINE boss Oran Kearney told the club’s media channel that he felt that performance was “brewing” after yesterday’s win against Linfield…

The Bannsiders moved back into sixth spot as goals from Lyndon Kane, Matthew Shevlin and Jamie Glackin sealed a 3-0 success against the Blues.

A healthy crowd was in attendance on the Ballycastle Road and Kearney hopes that the result will see many locals return for the games ahead.

“I think the result and the performance speaks for itself,” he said.

“We’ve said it before Tuesday night even that to get a result against these full-time teams now in particular, you need the whole thing to be rocking and you need everybody to be on it.

“To a man today, we were on it from the word go right to the end and it was a great performance.

“We knew Linfield would bring a big following with them with where they’re at at this point in time in the league.

“We also knew it would bring a lot of people back out again as well, so again with that, it’s important that you get a performance to go with it.

“Hopefully everybody has gone home happy today but more importantly that they come back next week.”

The Stripes came into the contest on the back of a late defeat to Glentoran but Kearney once again highlighted the spirit in his squad, as well as being delighted with how clinical they were in front of goal.

“It shows the character we have in the changing room that we’ve never doubted,” he added.

“There wasn’t time for people to panic or whatever else or feel sorry for themselves.

“We have just gone and got right out there with another big performance.

“We were just clinical today we created a good level of chances but more importantly we just made good decisions and good quality finishes today.

“I think in particular the second and third goals are really helpful because you know Linfield are going to push you, you know they’re going to ask questions of you, so it’s important that when you get those opportunities at the other end you take them.

“The clean sheet was really good.

“I think Gareth probably didn’t have a huge amount to do but he’s pulled off a couple of really good saves.

“There was one at 2-0 before the third goal I don’t know how he’s clawed it out from the corner onto the bar and then we break the length of the pitch and score.

“He’s collected a huge amount of clean sheets this season and he’s been phenomenal.”

Coleraine supporters were able to get a first sight of Andrew Mitchell on the pitch as he was handed his debut but Kearney insists he will give the striker time to get up to full speed.

“We thought it was probably only going to happen in the summer,” he continued.

“It looked as if time was petering out on us but a huge amount of work has gone in to try and get it over the line and thankfully we were able to do that.

“We’re delighted to get Andrew in, he’s a good fit, he’s a great guy and I think the important thing is now that we build him up to speed at the correct pace because he hasn’t had a pile of football behind him.

“If we go and play him 90 after 90 after 90, he probably breaks down after three or four games with a hamstring or some type of muscular injury.

“It’s important that we manage that hence the reason why we had him on the bench today and we look forward to working with him after another full week of training.”

With his side still having so much to play for between now and the end of the campaign, Kearney hopes that the win against the Blues will be “a catalyst” for the challenges ahead.

Coleraine will now turn their focus to the second round of the Samuel Gelston’s Whiskey Irish Cup as they host Portadown next Saturday.

“The result needs to be a catalyst,” he stressed.

“It’s been a tough month or so for us but I felt that was brewing.

“I felt we had that in us and we threatened it a few times but it just didn’t quite happen.

“I hope that it’s out of the system and we’ve still so much to play for this season.

“We have the League Cup, the Irish Cup and we need to get as high up the table as possible in relation to European places and all that goes with it.

“I really hope it’s a catalyst and the kick-start so we can build on this next week.”