Oran ​Kearney regret as Coleraine choices let Linfield ‘off the hook’

With the game scoreless in yesterday’s showpiece showdown, the Blues took the lead on 49 minutes when Conor McKendry lost possession inside his own half, allowing Chris McKee to slip in Joel Cooper, who made no mistake inside the box.

Another misjudgement allowed David Healy’s men to go further ahead as Dean Jarvis’ header put Stephen O’Donnell under pressure and the defender fouled an onrushing McKee, with Coleraine punished by Chris Shields’ spot-kick.

“I think you know that goals change games, particularly in cup finals and I felt we were more than in the game,” Kearney said. “I just felt it was very even and we preached all week and before the game about taking risks in the right areas.

“Linfield had a bigger crowd than us today and you have that sense and feeling of getting the game 0-0 at half-time and then the edginess and all of that that goes with it.

“For us, the longer we stay in the game or the longer we keep it in that scenario, the stronger we get and nervier it becomes for them.

“If they are to go ahead, you want them to earn it and you want it to be a really good goal.

“Conor McKendry has been really good for us but we urge him to do that stuff in the final third and I think he’s attempted something 10 yards inside his own half and it meant they had one pass which led to a goal.

“All of a sudden, all your best-laid plans are gone and all three sides of the ground lose their edginess and their players gain belief, which becomes a tougher assignment.”

Kearney had no complaints about the penalty decision which led to ‘a tough assignment’ for his players to get back into the contest.

“If it’s 0-0 at that moment in time, Dean heads the ball out for a throw-in or booms it up the line,” he added. “I think he’s respective of we’re chasing the game and there’s 60 minutes gone and that there’s an urge there where we’ve got to try and get something.

“You then bring a bit of smartness to it, where rather put the ball out for a throw-in where it takes longer to get the game started, he’s trying to be smart by knocking the ball into Stevie O’Donnell.

“When they go ahead, they have that know-how and they’ve been in enough big games which makes it a tough task.

“To be fair, we kept going and we’ve created a few half chances which might have given you a lifeline like Cliftonville last year but, beyond that, we probably struggled in the last 20 minutes where I think the players got the feeling they knew it was going to be a tough assignment and it was going to take something special to change it.

“To let them off the hook in the manner that we did is highly frustrating and unorthodox in relation to the rest of how we played the game.”

Kearney has been working hard this season to integrate fresh faces such as Dean Jarvis, Michael McCrudden, Kieran Farren, Lee Lynch, Jack O'Mahony, Conor McDermott, Andy Scott and Eamon Fyfe. He will now attempt to regroup and get the ‘cycle’ back on track at The Showgrounds club.