Oran Kearney has Coleraine focused on the job

Many would have put Coleraine down as a home banker on Saturday as the in-form Bannsiders took on struggling Warrenpoint Town.
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But Oran Kearney certainly wasn’t about to let any complacency creep into his side.

The Point have struggled to pick up any points in the league since the opening day of the season.

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But Kearney has been in the game long enough to know that if you take any teams in the Irish League lightly you will get punished.

Coleraine’s Josh Carson holds off his opponent. Picture: David CavanColeraine’s Josh Carson holds off his opponent. Picture: David Cavan
Coleraine’s Josh Carson holds off his opponent. Picture: David Cavan

As it turned out the Bannsiders produced a professional display against Barry Gray’s men running out 2-0 winners thanks to Matthew Shevlin’s brace much to Kearney’s delight.

“It’s very much job done,” said the Coleraine boss.

“I’ve heard it all week and it’s a thing you guard against players and everything else – ‘oh, we’re playing the team that’s bottom of the league’ and everything else and all that goes with it

“But it has to be said – you look at the investment that’s gone into Warrenpoint, you look at the players they’re recruited from the south from good sides.

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“You look at the players they’ve recruited from the north, like the couple of players from Larne and all the rest, and it’s a hell of a a team sheet that they produced there.

“For me, we drummed into the players all week – we’ve got to be right up there with performance levels to make sure we get the victory.

“It proved that way for me today.

“Yes, we were solid. Yes, we restricted them to very few attempts on goal, but by the same stretch we had a lot of quality and threats.

“We had good performances all round, a clean sheet and we’re delighted.”

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The hosts were always in control of proceedings and perhaps could have extended their lead, but Kearney was more than pleased with the clean sheet at the other end.

“We were unlucky (not to score more),” he said.

“I would like to see the first half offside goal again. Lyndon said when I’m crossing it I can’t see Bushy as he’s behind the defender, he said he struggled to see how he was offside.

“Then Shevy had one disallowed as well.

“The third one would have been the release one.

“At 2-0 you’re always a wee bit cagey whereas if they even get one with five minutes to go it makes it a grandstand finish.

“So you’re never going to be as expansive leading 2-0.

“There are two ways of improving your goal difference and one way is keeping them out at the other end and that’s as important as the other.

"To be fair, our guys understood that they can’t go mad and that they want to keep the back door shut.”