Coleraine chief Oran Kearney backs goalkeeper Rory Brown to have a 'big future' at The Showgrounds as Bannsiders are beaten by clinical Cliftonville at Solitude

The shot stopper - who joined in the January transfer window from Glenavon - slipped after controlling a back pass which allowed Ronan Hale to make the breakthrough on 11 minutes.

The Bannsiders would then find themselves 2-0 down at the break through Shea Kearney's strike but they did half the arrears through Jamie McGonigle's close-range finish on 50 minutes.

However, the two-goal cushion was quickly restored through Sam Ashford's finish, with Rory Hale adding a late fourth following Odhran Casey's dismissal for two yellow cards.

"It felt strange today. It didn't feel like a 4-1 game and I felt for big parts of it - and I'd like to see numbers - we created a lot of chances,” said Kearney.

"I suppose with the season we've had so far and what we're just coming out of the back of, the start in the game leaves us a bigger mountain to climb than normal with the couple of months it's been for us.

"I had a brief chat with Rory (Brown) at half-time and when he came on for the start of the second-half, as well as shouting onto him when the goal happened.

"It's strange to say it but your mindset has to be that it is no different to him pulling off a Gordon Banks world-class down there, where I suppose the mantra would be and in particular for goalkeepers, is that no matter what happens all you ever worry about is the next ball.

"Rory's a big character, he's been outstanding since he's come into the place and he's got a big future ahead of him."

Kearney remarked that conceding a third goal so quickly after making it 2-1 was a momentum shift in the contest.

He added: "We did have the perfect start but half-time is driven all about the importance of the next goal and the importance of us getting it.

"Scoring the goal so early was brilliant but if you told me we'd concede a minute later I'd rather the game stayed 2-0, so we could sweat the first 15 or 20 minutes of it.

"I think if we can kick on for the next five or 10 minutes the whole outlook might have swung."