Coleraine almost pay the penalty against Glentoran

Coleraine secured all three points against Glentoran at The Showgrounds thanks to a 2-0 win in a game that had THREE penalties!

The visitors edged the first half but the Bannsiders came out strong at the start of the second period and won a penalty five minutes after the restart after Calum Birney handled Jamie McGonigle's flick.

The striker stepped up and fired the penalty over the bar.

Before the hour mark Keith Kennedy pointed to the spot again after Jamie Glackin had been brought down by Dwayne Nelson.

Dean Shiels took responsibility this time, but his penalty ended up a carbon copy of McGonigle's.

But just when you thought the drama was over Coleraine remarkably won a third penalty after Gavin Peers's tussle with Eoin Bradley.

After a melee in the penalty area Bradley kept his cool to drill the ball past Nelson.

Ben Doherty added a late second to secure the points for the home side.

Curtis Allen carved out the first opening with five minutes on the clock, but his shot went wide of the far post.

Chris Gallagher called Chris Johns into action five minutes later before Shiels had Nelson at full stretch at the other end.

The keeper had to react well to palm Marcus Kane's cross over on 28 minutes, and he produced a great save to deny Allen again on 34 minutes.

The action heated up after the break as the first penalty was awarded on 50 minutes when McGonigle's flick from Shiels shot was palmed away by Birney.

He was dismissed but his mood improved as McGonigle fired over.

Aaron Burns then fed Glackin with a clever pass, and he was cleaned out by the onrushing Nelson. But Shiels failed to hit the target too and was left to look at the penalty spot which gave way below him.

But within five minutes Kennedy gave another spot kick as Peers and Bradley tangled.

The Glens were aggrieved and tempers boiled over in the box.

When order was restored Bradley rifled his shot down the middle to the relief of the home fans.

Coleraine were on top for the remainder of the game and added a second four minutes before the end as Doherty fired in after James McLaughlin's shot was parried by Nelson.