Saturday 22nd April
Kick Off 3pm
On Saturday, in our last home game of the normal Danske Bank Premiership campaign, we welcome sixth placed Coleraine to the Bet McLean Oval for the first time since September and the fifth match of the campaign.
Since losing 2-0 to Linfield in the Bet McLean Cup Final last month, Coleraine have picked up only 2 points from their last 5 Premiership fixtures; a run that has mathematically confirmed a guaranteed 6th place finish after last weekend’s 0-1 late reverse to the Blues at Ballycastle Road. With all eyes now turning towards the European Play-Offs, the Bannsiders will be hoping that main rivals Ballymena United do not win the Irish Cup, as this would force them to have to overcome a Quarter Final against Glenavon before they could travel to face the eventual 3rd place finisher.
While Coleraine’s title challenge has long since faded, it has been a fantastic season on a personal level for striker Matthew Shevlin, scorer of 21 league goals and now a nominee for the Premiership player of the season award. It was a late Shevlin equaliser that rescued a 2-2 draw for Oran Kearney’s side in the last meeting between the sides at Ballycastle Road in February, just minutes after Conor McMenamin’s goal of the season contender looked to have won the 3 points for the Glens.
It was McMenamin who scored the winning goal at the Oval in a 1-0 Glentoran success last September, while a bruising encounter at the Showgrounds in November ended in a 0-0 draw.
Full Back Dean Jarvis has missed the last 2 fixtures due to suspension, with midfield namesake Aaron missing the last 3 after being red carded in a 0-0 draw with Larne. Both players got on the scoresheet in the 2-2 match in February; Dean scoring the Bannsiders’ opener before Aaron headed into his own net (under pressure from Junior) from a Bobby Burns free kick later in the first half to draw Glentoran level. Defender Rodney Brown has been missing through injury since our last meeting, and experienced midfielder Stephen Lowry since the beginning of January.
Rodney McAree: “Last week’s 3-0 win over Cliftonville was an outstanding performance by the players and a great and important result for the club.
I felt we started the game a bit slowly but once we found our feet and level after 15 minutes or so we controlled all aspects of the game and played in a very positive manner throughout. Cliftonville have a real level of togetherness which means they, can outmuscle and outwork other teams and win the battles you need to win matches, so on Saturday we demonstrated we can play at a level we need to maintain to the end of the season if we’re going to achieve our objectives.
The midfield was excellent against a strong Reds team. Bobby has been great for us week in week out and is now on 10 goals for the season. That’s a great return for a guy who last season wasn’t able to play midfield much because of injuries to others. Also Rhys moved to midfield and had a great game where he showed a work rate and energy that gave us a great platform to win our battles and go on to control the game. Plus Terry was outstanding again.
Injuries meant we had a new back four where I thought Aaron looked very comfortable at right back while Harry again was impressive. Cliftonville are a very strong attacking side so our lads can be pleased with how they played. Plus I was very pleased to see Junior have his best game so far for the club and to score a very good opening goal.
Coleraine here today will be another challenge from another good team. Although their league position for the playoffs is established, they won’t come here wanting to do us any favours so we’ll need to battle to get what we want from the game. We’ve still got plenty to play for over the next two matches and as it took Linfield until the 87th minute to beat them at the Showgrounds last week we know they’ll be ready for this one too.
Aidan will miss this one as will Shay, though his hamstring isn’t as bad as we feared. Marcus is doubtful again though I’m hopeful Hrvoje will be available.”
