A tale of two penalties as Coleraine and Larne play out draw at The Showgrounds

The Inver Reds made nine changes from their historic Conference League victory against Lincoln Red Imps on Thursday but it was Coleraine who came out of the traps brighter.

The Bannsiders were looking to avenge their first defeat of the season last week to Glenavon and started brightly as Matthew Shevlin fired straight at Rohan Ferguson with less than a minute on the clock.

Dean Shiels handed a debut to deadline day loan signing Connor Murray and he almost had an introduction to remember as his strike from 30 yards forced Ferguson to tip the ball around the post.

From the resulting corner kick, Scotsman Ferguson would then deny his fellow native Kyle McClelland who got his head onto Jack Scott's delivery.

Larne's only meaningful chance of the first half landed at the feet of ex-Coleraine winger Conor McKendry but his driven shot was palmed away by Rory Brown.

However, Coleraine would hit the front on 39 minutes as referee Christopher Morrison pointed to the spot after Sam Todd was adjudged to have handled inside the box. The resulting penalty kick was dispatched at ease by Shevlin for his third goal of the campaign.

Just before the interval, Brown made a big stop for the Bannsiders as he dived low to keep out Jordan McEneff's effort from inside the box.

Tiernan Lynch clearly wasn't impressed by his side's performance at the break as he made a trio of substitutions, including Thursday night's hat-trick hero Andy Ryan who was brought on to spearhead the attack.

Coleraine looked the more threatening in the early stages of the half as McClelland headed over, before Murray couldn't get a leg on Mackenzie Carse's cross.

Those missed sights of goal would come back to haunt Coleraine as Larne drew level via a penalty of their own on 68 minutes. A mis-timed tackle by Ciaron Harkin on McKendry allowed Ryan to keep his cool from 12 yards.

After drawing level, Larne's tails were unsurprisingly up and they almost forged ahead two minutes but Brown came off his line to smother Benji Magee's attempt.

Soon after, a corner kick delivery was on the money for Ryan but his near-post header sailed inches wide.

As the game entered the final stages, it was looking like next goal the winner and Coleraine had an excellent opportunity as the clock struck the 90 minute mark. An excellent cross by Scott landed at the head of Rhyss Campbell but the substitute failed to get a meaningful touch on the ball.

A draw was a fair result on the Ballycastle Road as Coleraine play Moyola Park in the North-West Cup on Tuesday, with Larne beginning the defence of their County Antrim Shield against Queen’s University at Inver Park.