When Oran took over Coleraine, he was already up against it, the team had lost three games on the bounce, moral was low, relegation was looming and players were injured. His first game in charge was away to Ballymena, and to the fans surprise, they saw a different side than what was turning up recently, we battled, chased down every ball and played like a team who was full of confidence, thanks to a Kyle McVey penalty, Coleraine won 1-0 and Oran got off to a great start.
Next up for Coleraine and Oran was a trip to championship high flyers Carrick Rangers in the 6th rd of the Irish Cup, a double from Leon Knight and a fantastic lob from new makeshift Striker Marc Mukendi saw Coleraine run out 3-1 winners and enter the Irish Cup quarter finals. In the draw which followed the game, Coleraine face an away tie in the quarter final against Glentoran.
So with two games and two wins, Coleraine's next game came on Monday night at home to Portadown, Coleraine were missing their new captain, David Ogilby, midfielders Hegarty and Black, defender Harkness and Darren Boyce was on the bench, however he was not fully fit. Considering our record against Portadown in recent seasons a team which we can never seem to beat, we were up against it.
Coleraine started of brightly, but soon found themselves a goal down, however Carson levelled things up with a great goal, however as the game went on things got worse for the Stripes, McVey and Canning both went of injured, which saw Boyce having to come on and young McIvor. In the 2nd half, Watt went of injured and Tommons was sent off. So Coleraine had lost three defenders during the game and we ended up with a makeshift side, with players playing out of position, but the players battled well and earned a well deserved point from the game. It keeps Oran and Coleraine's unbeaten run going which will hopefully still be the case after this weekend.
Saturday's away game against Ballymena will be Coleraine's 2nd trip there this month, It will be hard to predict what way Coleraine will line up. McVey looks set to miss the rest of the season due to his foot injury against Portadown, Canning who had his nose broken against Portadown will miss out, Watt went of with a hamstring injury against Portadown also. Darren Boyce is not fully fit and had to come on the other night as we were low in numbers, Black and Harkness have missed recent games also due to injury and Tommons is suspended for this game, so we will be missing key players, so the lads will have to battle and fight to get a win from this derby.
In the last four derby's between Coleraine and Ballymena, Coleraine have won all four, two at home and two away. Going into this derby, Coleraine go into this game unbeaten in their last three games under new manager Kearney having won twice and drawn once, where as Ballymena have lost their last two games and not won in their last seven games, there last win was on the 4th Jan at home to Portadown. However we all know stats and form go out in the window in derby's, as we saw in our win their last week.
There is no more point in talking about reaching the top six, we'll take each game as it comes, if we win and teams around us lose, then so be it, there is some massive games coming up, starting with the derby on Saturday, there is also the Quarter Final of the Irish Cup away to Glentoran. With injuries and suspensions, it's going to take a massive effort over the next month, us the fans can play our part in backing the team.
So let's get up in numbers on Saturday and help keep this run going.
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