Match Centre

Premiership
Friday 4 August 2023 (kick off: 7.45 PM)

Venue: Coleraine Showgrounds

Attendance: 3479

Referee: Tony Clarke

Coleraine home-team
2 FT 1
away-team Ballymena United
  •   Matthew Shevlin 23' 61'
  •   Colin Coates 12'
football
Matthew Shevlin bagged both Coleraine goals ©Pacemaker Press

SHEVLIN AT THE DOUBLE AS BANNSIDERS CLAIM BRAGGING RIGHTS

Coleraine came from a goal down to kick the season off with a derby defeat of Ballymena United on the Ballycastle Road.

Getting off to a typically feisty start given the nature of the rivalry between the two sides, it fell to the visitors to seize the early advantage when - after 12 minutes - United skipper Colin Coates bagged the opening goal of the campaign after rising highest to nod home a Steven McCullough free-kick.

But the Bannsiders responded positively and duly levelled midway through the first half courtesy of a strong Matthew Shevlin strike after he had been teed up by Conor McKendry.

That set the tone for the rest of the half, with McCullough coming closest for the Sky Blues only to be denied a great Gareth Deane stop while Lee Lynch's looping free-kick at the other end wasn't able to be converted.

Coleraine came out after the break looking the more threatening and got their reward with Shevlin's second of the evening just after the hour when McKendry again delivered the decisive ball for last season's leading scorer to tap home.

Oran Kearney's side almost put the game to bed not long after that when McKendry and Lynch combined to provide Jamie Glackin with an opportunity on the edge of the box only to rattle an upright with his subsequent shot.

As the game progressed the Bannsiders continued to look the more likely to add to their tally with Shevlin coming close to his hat-trick only to fail to steer an Andy Scott cross on target while McKendry had a go with a strike just inches over the crossbar.

United almost salvaged a point right at the end only for Ryan Waide to send an effort directly at Deane from around 20 yards but, in the end, Coleraine had done enough to secure the victory.

Coleraine: Deane, Jarvis, Kelly, McKendry, Lowry, Shevlin, McDaid, O'Donnell, Lynch, Glackin, Scott subs Gallagher, Kane, Farren, Cole, O'Mahony, Mitchell, Doherty

Ballymena United: O'Neill, Whiteside, Coates, Gawne, Graham, Waide, McCullough, McGuigan, McGrory, McMurray, Place subs Johnston, Nelson, O'Boyle, Gibson, Walsh, Murray, Tennant

  • FULL TIME
    Coleraine   2 - 1 Ballymena United
  •  Yellow Card

    Scot Whiteside

    Linfield

    90+7'
  •  Yellow Card

    Lyndon Kane

    Coleraine

    87'
  • red subsititutions  Substitution

    John McGuigan

    Players

    86'
  • green subsititutions  Substitution

    TJ Murray

    Dundela

    86'
  •  Yellow Card

    Dean Jarvis

    Coleraine

    80'
  • red subsititutions  Substitution

    Matthew Shevlin

    Coleraine

    79'
  • red subsititutions  Substitution

    David McDaid

    Glenavon

    79'
  • green subsititutions  Substitution

    Lyndon Kane

    Coleraine

    79'
  • green subsititutions  Substitution

    Andrew Mitchell

    Dungannon Swifts

    79'
  • red subsititutions  Substitution

    Andrew McGrory

    Ballymacash Rangers

    79'
  • green subsititutions  Substitution

    Kym Nelson

    Ballymena United

    79'
  • green subsititutions  Substitution

    Fiontan O'Boyle

    Newington

    79'
  • red subsititutions  Substitution

    Marc Walsh

    Dergview

    79'
  •  Yellow Card

    Steven McCullough

    Portadown

    75'
  • GOAL

    Matthew Shevlin

    Coleraine

    61'
  •  Yellow Card

    Colin Coates

    Ballymena United

    45'
  •  Yellow Card

    Sean Graham

    Larne

    45'
  •  Yellow Card

    Sean O'Neill

    Ballymena United

    43'
  •  Yellow Card

    Stephen Lowry

    Limavady United

    25'
  •  Yellow Card

    Mikey Place

    Ballymena United

    24'
  • GOAL

    Matthew Shevlin

    Coleraine

    23'
  • red subsititutions  Substitution

    Alex Gawne

    Ballymena United

    17'
  • green subsititutions  Substitution

    Marc Walsh

    Dergview

    17'
  • GOAL

    Colin Coates

    Ballymena United

    12'
  •  Yellow Card

    Stephen O'Donnell

    Ballymena United

    11'
  •  Yellow Card

    Jonathan McMurray

    Ballymena United

    11'
  •  Yellow Card

    Alex Gawne

    Ballymena United

    3'

Coleraine

  • Gareth Deane
  • Dean Jarvis 80'
  • Graham Kelly
  • Conor McKendry
  • Stephen Lowry 25'
  • Matthew Shevlin red substitution 79' 23' 61'
  • David McDaid red substitution 79'
  • Stephen O'Donnell 11'
  • Lee Lynch
  • Jamie Glackin
  • Andy Scott

Substitutes

  • Martin Gallagher
  • Lyndon Kane 87' green substitution 79'
  • Kieran Farren
  • Darren Cole
  • Jack O'Mahony
  • Andrew Mitchell green substitution 79'
  • Luca Doherty

Ballymena United

  • Sean O'Neill 43'
  • Scot Whiteside 90+7'
  • Colin Coates 45' 12'
  • Alex Gawne 3' red substitution 17'
  • Sean Graham 45'
  • Ryan Waide
  • Steven McCullough 75'
  • John McGuigan red substitution 86'
  • Andrew McGrory red substitution 79'
  • Jonathan McMurray 11'
  • Mikey Place 24'

Substitutes

  • Sam Johnston
  • Kym Nelson green substitution 79'
  • Fiontan O'Boyle green substitution 79'
  • Jordan Gibson
  • Marc Walsh green substitution 17' red substitution 79'
  • TJ Murray green substitution 86'
  • Lewis Tennant
© Desmond Loughery/Pacemaker Press

Coleraine

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Ballymena United

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