Coleraine Chronicle - Sports - Wind in their sails

Sports

Wind in their sails

Thursday, 26 January 2012

Wind in their sails thumbnail Aaron Canning opened his Coleraine account with a stunning goal in the 3-1 defeat of Glenavon at the weekend.

COLERAINE signed off in their last league game before Saturday's IRN-BRU League Cup final by simply blowing away Glenavon on a day of unforgettable goals at the Showgrounds. First, recent signing Paul Owens must have created some sort of record by scoring direct from a corner - not once but twice - much to the embarrassment of former Coleraine 'keeper Davy O'Hare.
Then, just to add to the drama, defender Aaron Canning scored his first ever goal for the club with a contender for January's 'Goal of the Month' competition.
The victory could have been much more emphatic - the previously mentioned O'Hare produced a string of fine saves to prevent a complete pasting for Gary Hamilton's side. The Bannsiders' dominance of the second half, when they enjoyed the advantage of a strong wind, was reflected in the fact that they had 13 effforts on goal, nine of them on target.
It really was that one-sided after half-time, an interval during which the Lurgan side enjoyed a 1-0 advantage thanks to a stunning Brian McCaul goal.
Coleraine offered little in the opening 45 minutes but wasted no time in levelling the match after the restart. Paul Owens swung a corner in from the far side and with the wind in his favour the ball sailed over the head and outstretched arms of Davy O'Hare and ended up in the back of the net.
It was just the sort of start Oran Kearney would have wanted but things got even better 15 minutes later.
Aaron Canning, standing in for the suspended Howard Beverland at centre-back, picked up the ball inside the Glenavon half.
Showing hitherto unseen dribbling skills he weaved his way past a number of would-be tacklers before unleashing a left-foot shot high past O'Hare into the top corner of the goal.
The game was over as a contest after 64 minutes when Paul Owens produced a carbon copy of his first goal to make it 3-1.
A corner from the same side had the same result as it flew over the heads of everyone before again ending up in the back of the net.
Incredibly, he could have completed a hat-trick of corner-kick goals shortly after but this time O'Hare was equal to the challenge and he tipped the ball over the bar for a corner.
This was the perfect way for Coleraine to go into a major cup final: the victory sees them extend their unbeaten run to 13 games, they picked up no injuries and no bookings.
Furthermore, the good work of groundsman John McLaughlin, Tommy Doherty and others in the hours leading up to the game to enable it to be played ensured that Howard Beverland and Johnny Watt would be available for the final after serving a one match ban each.