Match Reaction

OK thrilled with ‘good combinations’

ORAN Kearney believes his players produced a “game smart” performance as they made it three successive wins in all competitions…

The Bannsiders would earn all three points against Dungannon Swifts as Curtis Allen and Josh Carson got on the scoresheet.

Speaking to Coleraine TV post-match, Kearney alluded to the recent good form of the visitors who had won six out of their previous seven games heading into the contest.

“I am pleased with the result, another clean sheet, a couple of good goals and possibly towards the end and Lyndon’s penalty, we could have had a few more,” he said.

“So, all in all, it’s a good night for us.

“It was really important grabbing the first goal.

“They are probably the form team in the league at this point in time, Dean’s won Manager of the Month and rightly so as they’ve won six out of their last seven.

“From the Dungannon team we played earlier on in the season, you can see the improvement that’s been made and a big part of that is when you go on a wee run of winning games, it breeds confidence and we all know in football confidence is really important.

“From that point of view, we knew it would be a tough task tonight, we knew we’d have to be game smart and pitch smart in relation to there would be times they’d have possession and they’ll string a lot of passes together.

“Therefore, it was about not leaving gaps and making sure we didn’t leave ourselves open.

“I thought we restricted them, they’d had a few chances but we’ve restricted them too as few as possible.

“When we have needed Gareth, he has pulled off the saves that we needed.”

The Stripes would score twice in as many minutes towards the end of the first-half to pocket the three points, with Gareth Deane registering his third successive clean sheet.

“It was a great goal and a great read by Josh,” he added.

“It’s a switch of play that hasn’t gone correct and executed properly, and to be fair to Josh, out of the two or three players in that area, he’s the first one to react and it gives him a head start.

“When he gets in there as well there’s a huge amount of composure in the finish.

“The ‘keeper stands up well but Josh shows real good disguise in the finish as he looks like he is going far post and then sweeps it near post.

“Clean sheets and scoring goals are good combinations and if you can keep doing that, you’ll never be far away.

“It’s something we’ve built on over the last few seasons and again we’ve registered quite a few this season already.

“It’s important we keep the back door shut as much as that we’ve got to create chances at the other end.”

The Bannsiders travel to Cliftonville on Saturday afternoon and Kearney stressed that his players will solely focus on the Danske Bank Premiership meeting between the two sides despite meeting in cup competitions next month.

“We’re in a really good place as the last four or five games we’ve got our mojo back and we’re right back in the levels that we want to be,” he reflected.

“It’s always a tough time when you go there.

“There’s a lot documented about the League Cup final and Irish Cup quarter-final and everything that goes with it, but there’s a huge number of games and water to go under the bridge before we get to that point.

“For us, it’s about going there on Saturday and trying to get three points.”