Seismic shift for Shevlin

MATTHEW Shevlin believes last night’s performance against Glentoran was his best in a Coleraine shirt…

The striker scored either side of half-time to put Coleraine ahead at The Oval, but unfortunately the Bannsiders couldn’t hang on for all three points due to an unfortunate own goal by Josh Carson.

The ex-Ballymena United and Linfield ace admitted he had to brave for his opening goal as he got to the ball before Glens stopper Rory Brown, as well as praising Carson for his assist after the half-time interval.

“The first 25 minutes we started quite slow but the equaliser gave us a bit of life,” he said.

“We went in at half-time level and we came out and started the second-half quite well.

“We looked after the ball better and took the lead, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be due to a freak goal and there’s nothing you can do about it.

“I had to brave and I got up ahead of the ‘keeper for the first one.

“I said to Josh at half-time about putting the ball in behind and I made the run, so thankfully, he was able to pick me out and I found the bottom corner.”

The 23-year-old acknowledged that he has had to be patient for opportunities due to the busy schedule and the fact he had to deal with an ankle injury following his switch from Linfield last January.

“I’d say it was my best game, and if not, it was definitely my biggest shift!

“When I arrived, I picked up an ankle injury and it was hard to shrug off especially with the high amount of games.

“I’m glad to be getting more starts and goals coming in.”

Coleraine and Glentoran will do it all over again on Friday night and Shevlin has issued a rallying call to his team-mates to give it “a big push” until the end of the campaign.

“It has never happened in my career before that I’ve played the same team twice in a row but that’s just another crazy story from this season,” he concluded.

“All the boys will have to rest and recover for another big game on Friday.

“It is now a big push to finish the season well and try to get a European spot.

“When you are playing the teams around you, you need to pick up the points.”