Donnelly brothers at the double as Glentoran defeat Coleraine

Goals in either half from brothers Ruaidhri and Jay Donnelly sealed a seventh win on the bounce for Mick McDermott’s men ahead of Monday’s intriguing ‘Big Two’ clash with Linfield.

There was a big switch for the hosts with Adam Mullan coming in to a back three and Conor McKendry and Jamie Glackin partnering teenage forward Patrick Kelly in attack.

Unsurprisingly, the Glens named an unchanged side from the team which defeated Glenavon 2-0 last Friday.

And they started with all the confidence of a team that had won each of their last six league games - taking the lead inside four minutes.

Ruaidhri Donnelly was afforded too much space in the Coleraine six-yard box, allowing him to head home Shay McCartan’s corner.

They almost doubled their lead on 17 minutes as the home defence failed to deal with another corner.

Seanan Clucas’ header fell for Jay Donnelly, but he screwed his shot wide from eight yards.

Patrick McClean then tried his luck from distance, with his shot deflecting away for another corner which the Bannsiders managed to defend this time.

It was Coleraine’s chance to threaten from a corner as play approached the half-hour mark but Rodney Brown powered his header over from McKendry’s delivery.

The hosts almost shot themselves in the foot 10 minutes from half-time as a rare loose pass from Stephen Lowry allowed Conor McMenamin to race towards goal - but he blazed his shot over.

The Glens started the second half with the same attacking intent, with Bobby Burns having a shot deflected narrowly wide of the target.

The Bannsiders threw on James McLaughlin seven minutes into the second half and he powered over a header minutes after coming on.

But it was the Glens who scored again just past the hour mark as McMenamin nicked the ball past Mullan before squaring for Jay Donnelly for a tap-in.

Coleraine carved out another opportunity on 69 minutes as McLaughlin fed Lyndon Kane, but his shot was beat away by Aaron McCarey.

They forced the keeper into another stop minutes later as McCarey got down well to block a McLaughlin header.

Glackin then fizzed a shot wide after a scramble in the visitors’ penalty box.

Right at the death, Donnelly should have bagged his second as he capitalised on another mix-up in the Coleraine defence but he fired over the target.

--

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world.

But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you