Coleraine's Oran ​Kearney points to decisive ‘pinball moment of madness’ in European heartbreak

In many ways, it was a cruel final twist to what has been a disappointing season for the Bannsiders.

After Jamie McGonigle has given them an early lead, Stephen Baxter’s team hit back with goals from Jarlath O’Rourke and Daniel Larmour. When Josh Carson walloped in a stunning shot from 35 yards, Kearney’s men had the bit between their teeth.

But things changed when Crusaders introduced Jordan Owens, who struck the priceless winning goal deep into added time.

“We are so disappointed,” said Kearney. “For big parts of the game I thought we had all the ingredients to win the game...stamina, courage, mental and physical toughness, particularly at a very difficult venue. We looked quite strong and dominant, but that pinball moment of madness in added time cost us. I felt it was a game that got away from us.

“We know how strong how Crusaders are at home, but for the first 36 minutes or so, we were bang on it...until we had two minutes of first-half calamity and the game flipped on its head. It was important we hung in after the restart and before we equalised, we had a few chances. It was a hell of a strike from Josh and one that certainly didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.

"I felt the momentum then swung back on our favour. In fact, we had a few good chances late on. It looked like it was going to go the distance to extra-time, when there was one of those moments of pinball inside the box.”

Kearney praised his team’s commitment.

“It’s been a tough season; it’s been a back-to-front season from what we were used to,” he said. “I couldn’t have asked any more of the lads over the past couple of months; they were at the level we expect of them.

“With a wee bit of luck in this game, we possibly could have gone on to the next stage. Finance is finance; it helps everyone. But we have never budgeted for it; we never do, or we never will.

“I suppose you could call it bonus money. Any time we’ve qualified in the past, it’s never going into the budget, but we’ve helped build the club around it, it’s been used for various things. “Yes, it has massively helped to build the club to what it is now.”