YOU have to go back to 2011 for the last time Coleraine and Limavady United met in the Irish Cup…
The two teams squared off in the fifth-round of the competition at the Limavady Showgrounds.
Date:
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Result:
Limavady United 1-2 Coleraine
Goals – McCaughan (’87 mins); Knight (’33 mins) & Carson (’66 mins)
Report:
Coleraine avoided an Irish Cup upset, as goals from Leon Knight and Stephen Carson gave the Bannsiders a 2-1 victory away to neighbours Limavady United and passage into the sixth round.
The home side started in a lively fashion and caused Coleraine a number of problems from set pieces, the penalty box coming under a constant aerial bombardment in the early stages.
They almost forced an opening when Coleraine gave the ball away cheaply and Limavady were able to break quickly, though fortunately for Coleraine the eventual shot was scuffed and Davy O’Hare scrambled it behind at the expense of a corner.
Darren Boyce had Coleraine’s first clear chance of the game, but was denied by a great save from Limavady goalkeeper Michael Doherty, before the Coleraine forward fired the rebound over the bar.
Another high ball into the box caused a bit of confusion in the Coleraine penalty area until O’Hare eventually tipped the ball over the bar to safety. At the other end, Coleraine almost opened the scoring after a great move. Carson picked out Boyce on the right with a pinpoint pass and he came inside, drawing Doherty out before squaring to Knight, whose shot struck the crossbar and was hacked clear.
But just after the half hour Coleraine did make a breakthrough, in truth probably against the run of play. Knight was fouled inside the box and the diminutive Englishman picked himself up to send Doherty the wrong way from the spot and score.
Limavady threatened an equaliser before the break as another scramble in the Coleraine goalmouth resulted in a shot being flashed across the goal and then former Coleraine player Peter Spratt shot over.
Coleraine started the second half with a flourish and almost doubled their lead straight away. Carson burst past several defenders on the left and crossed the ball deep to David Scullion who tried to simply pass the ball into the net, but Doherty managed to make the save.
But Carson did double the Bannsiders’ lead after 66 minutes, rifling a shot into the bottom corner well beyond the reach of Doherty, after a clever pass from Knight, to seemingly ensure victory.
The game was then held up for nearly ten minutes as one of the linesmen suffered an injury and with no fourth official on duty, a replacement had to be found. When the game finally restarted, Coleraine’s forward momentum had been stalled somewhat, but Darren Boyce almost made it three, taking the ball down and shooting for goal, being denied by a good defensive block.
Late on in the game, Conleth McCaughan pulled one back to set up a tense final few minutes, but there was to be no repeat of last week’s events at Newry as Coleraine held on to book their place in the next round against the winners of the replay between Carrick Rangers and Shankill United.
Line-ups:
LIMAVADY UNITED: Doherty, Walsh, McNulty, McConaghie, McKeever, Clarke, Spratt, Patrick, Owens (McCaughan), Friel, Cooke (Hutchinson).
COLERAINE: O’Hare, Beverland, Hegarty, McVey, Boyce, Black, Knight, Scullion (Lowry), Carson, Canning, Ogilby.
Subs Not Used: Cullen (GK), Mukendi, Watt, Tommons.
Referee:
Graham McIlwrath
Research by Hunter McClelland and pictures from Derek Simpson.
