Evolving Coleraine show their quality in statement win

Six times the two sides met during the last campaign with the Reds having the upperhand on no fewer than five times.

That included a heartbreaking League Cup final defeat as the Bannsiders surrendered a two-goal lead late on with Paddy McLaughlin’s men going on to lift the silverware.

It was an incredible season for the Solitude outfit last year as they pushed Linfield all the way in the race for the Gibson Cup and lost out in the Irish Cup semi-finals.

In some ways they filled the void left by Coleraine, who had slugged it out with the Blues in the recent campaigns.

A sixth placed finish is not where the Bannsiders or boss Oran Kearney wants to be.

So a summer of rebuilding took place with some exciting young talent recruited.

Saturday’s league opener with the Reds was always going to be the real acid test.

But boy did they lay down a marker. And in loanee Evan McLaughlin Kearney looks to have a real gem.

His energy alongside the likes of Jamie Glackin, Lee Lynch and Lyndon Kane, in a new central midfield role made life very difficult for the visitors at a sun-baked Showgrounds.

McLaughlin helped himself to a first half brace before Ryan Curran reduced the deficit in the second half.

There was to be no repeat of their League Cup defeat though as the Bannsiders stood firm before Glackin put the cherry on the top of the cake with a late third.

“A change in shape helped create the first two goals and other chances,” said Kearney.

“It’s been well documented that we built a team on the old pitch to win games of football and football at this level is purely about winning.

“I was an advocate of getting the new pitch installed and we are intent of building a team who are capable of playing on this surface.

“Anyone around us can see in the last twelve months in how we have evolved and it’s never something that was going to happen in one window, but it was something that was going to evolve over time to be able to go toe-to-toe with the other teams in the League.

“We have evolved again, there are snippets there, there’s a huge amount to come from us and we can polish up on bits and pieces.”

Kearney also had special praise for goal-scorer McLaughlin and is only too happy to give him a platform to showcase his undoubted talent.

“Evan is a great lad and is hungry for football and to get as many minutes as possible,” he said. “He’s been stunted a wee bit at Derry where he felt he wasn’t getting the game time he needed.

“We will take the shackles off him here, I love working with players like that where he has a smile on his face, his shoulders are back and I said to him before the game he would’ve been sitting here wondering if he would get on two months, whereas now you’re on and to take his frustration out there on the pitch.

“To be fair to him, I hope that’s just the start of it.”

Defender Kieran Farren also picked up praised on his League debut.

“I rarely single people out after a game but I had to as the manner of his performance was like someone who made his 200th appearance today rather than his first,” Kearney added.