Ballymena United 0
Coleraine 2
League (NIFL Premiership)

Match Report

BALLYMENA United remain rooted to the bottom of the Danske Bank Premiership table following Saturday's 0-2 home defeat to Coleraine.

The Bannsiders took the lead in typically comedic fashion with only two minutes on the clock. A long punt up field from goalkeeper Michael Dougherty was flicked on by Rodney Brown as the United defence parted like the Red Sea to allow Sammy Morrow the freedom of Warden Street to compose himself and slot the ball beyond the hopelessly exposed Dwayne Nelson.

As United produced their third collective sub standard performance in a row, the only bright spark again proved to be the honest endeavours of young Matthew Shevlin who fashioned a couple of chances for himself in a vain attempt to get Ballymena back on level terms. First the 16 year old turned sharply in the box but was denied by Dougherty in the Coleraine goal before again being denied minutes later when he shot straight at the goalkeeper after outpacing the visitors' defence.

Coleraine duly doubled their lead on 23 minutes when Aaron Canning rose completely unchallenged to head home Neil McCafferty's corner and compound United's inability to defend set pieces in a competent manner.

The Sky Blues' attempts to claw back the two goal deficit proved lacklustre, with Matthew Shevlin cutting an increasingly isolated figure up front. The young striker found himself in a great position to pull the trigger from inside the box late in the first half but a superb last ditch tackle from Steven Douglas kept the visitors' two goal lead intact.

Shevlin continued his one man crusade to score in the second half, first taking advantage of some complacent footwork by Aaron Canning to steal the ball in a threatening area but shot just wide of the goal before marginally failing to connect with Allan Jenkins cross as time began to run out.

Coleraine thought they had put the match to bed on 65 minutes but Neil McCafferty's superb free kick was ruled out for having been taken without the referee's permission with the resulting retake hitting the side netting. The disallowed goal mattered little as Oran Kearney's side held out to record a comfortable two goal victory and compound United's misery who must improve massively if they are to get a positive result against Dungannon Swifts next weekend.

Match report written by Jordan Miller