This Saturday sees Coleraine travel up the M1 to face Lisburn Distillery and take on Tommy Wrights men in the Carling Irish Premiership. Distillery play at the New Grosvenor Stadium which is home to both football and greyhound racing.
Currently Coleraines away form in the Carling Premiership has been poor, in away games we have only won twice, 2-0 away to Cliftonville and 2-1 away to Glenavon. We have lost 2-0 away to the Glens, 1-0 away to the Blues, 2-0 away to the Ports, 3-0 away to Dungannon and 2-0 away to the Crues. So after seven away games we have only scored four goals and conceded eleven, with five defeats and only two wins, it's time for us to pick up more points on the road and stop this terrible away form which has gone to the Dogs.
To date this season Distillery have been playing well and picking up a lot of points, which is a great achievement for ex Northern Ireland goalkeeper Tommy Wright and his lads, considering last season they spent most of the season down at the bottom of the league until they went on an amazing 11 game unbeaten run. This season Lisburn Distillery's last defeat was as far back as Saturday 9th October at home to Crusaders where they lost 4-2, however they are now unbeaten in their last five games.
Veteran and Irish League legend Glenn Ferguson is still playing for Distillery which is a remarkable achievement, many thought by now Glenn would have the boots hung up and taking it easy on a Saturday afternoon, but unfortunately for Irish League defenders Fergie is still torturing them and finding the onion bag. Hopefully come Saturday he feels like he wished he had retired and doesn't get a sniff of that onion bag.
During are dreadful bad run at the start of the season and after losing our first four games we thought our time had come when Distillery came to the showground's. In the 1st half Coleraine had battered Distillery but not a chance was taken and as half time came we still hadn't scored and the game was 0-0. In the 2nd half up steps none other than a Mr Ferguson to score the winner for Distillery and again Coleraine lost another game.
Last season Coleraine failed to win at New Grosvenor, our first visit up there was in the CIS Cup and it was to be short lived as due to torrential rain and I say torrential as it was like there was power hoses in the sky soaking us, the pitch was water logged and after only 15 minutes the game was called off. It was unbearable for the players to play in and luckily for us watching we were under the shed and dry, although it was unpleasant watching a ball sticking in puddles, so we were on the road again and home before the full times had came in.
So a new date was arranged for the 1st leg of the game and Distillery ran out 1-0 winners, although Coleraine managed to go through in the cup after knocking The Whites out on penalties in the 2nd leg. Our next visit to New Grosvenor was in December 2009 and again Distillery ran out winners, defeating Coleraine 3-2. Our final trip to Distillery was in May this year and our last game of the season, this time Coleraine didn't lose as the game finished 1-1. So in our three visits to New Grosvenor last season we failed to win any of them, something Davy Platt will be looking to put right this Saturday and end that hoodoo.
Both teams failed to collect three points in their midweek games, Distillery drew 1-1 at home to Ballymena thanks to a Glenn Ferguson goal, yes him again, in the 5th minute of injury time, whilst Coleraine were defeated 2-1 at home to Glentoran. Coleraine started the game well, with McVeigh busting the net with a superb strike after nine minutes, things then started to fall apart for Coleraine, Knight went off injured and John Watt came on. In the 2nd half Coleraine never got going and the Glens made it 1-1, then Aaron Black limped off to be replaced by Scullion. We again lost our shape and before we knew it the Glens were up 2-1. After a late surge on the Glens goal we failed to equalise and lost 2-1.Coleraine are currently 8th in the Carling Premiership compared to The Whites who are sitting pretty in 4th have been far too inconsistent this season, with the treatment room always full and the team changing week in week out it's been a tough season for Coleraine and their fans, our latest casualty now could be Leon Knight. So this Saturday we will be facing a Distillery side full of confidence, on an unbeaten run and who have only lost twice in eight home games this season, so the Bannsiders are going to have to dig deep this weekend and battle hard if they are to get any kind of a result. I always want to see Coleraine win each game, it doesn't happen, but this week I'll gladly take a draw and hope the team can go on an unbeaten run like Distillery have put together.
Come on Coleraine lets make us a team hard to beat and end our poor away form. Lets come out of the traps fighting and take something from Saturdays game.
Info
Opponents one to watch - Gary Browne who has scored 7 league goals this season
Lisburn
Lisburn Distillery's nickname - The Whites
Coleraine have a better defensive record than Distillery by two goals
The Whites have scored 26 goals compared to our 15 goals
Lisburn Distillery Ground - New Grosvenor Stadium
Coleraine have yet to draw a game this season
Admission - Adults £10 - Concessions £6
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