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Coleraine triumph in bonnie Scotland

Thursday, 22 July 2010

Nigel Tilson of Stena Line presents Coleraine captain Davy O’Hare with the Stena Cup following the Bannsiders’ thrilling 4-3 win over Stranraer on Sunday.

COLERAINE'S pre-season trip to Stranraer proved a profitable one as they returned to Northern Ireland in possession of the Stena Line Challenge Cup after a thrilling 4-3 win over the host club in Sunday afternoon's final. The Bannsiders had earned their place in the final on Saturday afternoon with a confident dismissal of junior side Glenafton Athletic. It was plain sailing for Coleraine as a strong first half performance saw them race into a 3-0 lead, largely thanks to an inspired showing from Sammy Morrow.
The former Hibs and Livingston striker clearly relished being back on Scottish soil and scored twice, first on 21 minutes when he cut inside and curled a shot beyond Ally Semple and into the bottom corner of the net, then he got his second just before the break, scoring from six yards out after the ball was laid off to him.
In between those two goals, he had a header cleared off the line and saw another curler narrowly miss the target, but Gareth Tommons did hit the target for Coleraine as he headed home Carson's pinpoint left wing cross to double the lead.
Glenafton were content to keep the score down after the break and with Coleraine knowing their job was done, the game petered out, although Aaron Black added a fourth after the hour, converting a right wing cross from close range.
Stranraer's 2-0 win over Dungannon Swifts in the other semi final set up the final and Coleraine didn't disappoint early on, racing into a 2-0 lead within the first 15 minutes.
First blood went to on-trial striker Paul Brown, who headed in from close range after Coleraine had quickly capitalised on a slip-up in the home defence. Then a ball over the top caught out the Stranraer backline again and the in-form Morrow raced in to fire past home goalkeeper Ryan Marshall.
But if Coleraine thought this game would be another cruise, they were soon proved wrong as Stranraer fought their way back into contention with two goals inside seven minutes from Scott Agnew, the first an exquisite free kick which left Davy O'Hare grasping at thin air, the second a hotly disputed penalty, which he nonetheless dispatched with aplomb.
Coleraine had lost their way a bit, not helped by injuries to Morrow and Garret Quinn which forced a reshuffle in formation before the break, but they came out strongly again for the second half and within ten minutes were in front again as Mitchell misjudged his header and the ball fell perfectly for Stephen Lowry who fired past the advancing Marshall.
Ten minutes later it looked like it was game over as Marshall parried a shot straight to David Scullion and the winger was left with a tap-in from barely a yard out for his first goal in Coleraine colours.
Stranraer kept pushing and were rewarded with another goal with five minutes left on the clock as Agnew completed his hat trick, firing low through a defender's legs and into the bottom corner. But time ran out before they could equalise again, meaning Coleraine picked up the trophy at the end of a very successful weekend, which hopefully bodes well for the season to come.

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