Saturday 28th September 2024 – Sports Direct Premiership – Coleraine, Northern Ireland

After parking my car on one of the side streets off Ballycastle Road, I got into step with a family heading to the game against league leaders Linfield. They were raving about the work Coleraine Football Club had delivered to improve their position in the local community, and as we reached the entrance to the ground you could see that community outreach in action, with plenty of volunteers welcoming fans, home and away to the Showgrounds.

The club are seeking funds from the Northern Ireland Government to redevelop the stadium, making it a hub of football in the north of the country. They certainly have space on three sides of the ground, with potentially the biggest technical areas in front of the main stand, and land behind the covered east terrace, which would be home to 1,500 or so Linfield fans this afternoon.

Putting aside the huge space between the main stand and the edge of the pitch, this was a proper ground, reminiscent of many English grounds twenty years ago. Two covered terraces at each end, which provided the acoustics for the fans, especially the away voices who boasted about being top of the league, and likely to stay there as long as they avoided defeat, with the surprise packages of Ballymena United and Dungannon Swifts having a chance to top the table if they lost.

But that was never going to happen once Joel Cooper put David Healy’s side ahead in the twentieth minute after Matthew Fitzpatrick had beaten the offside trap down the right-hand side and played the perfect ball across the area. One became two five minute later when a corner was whipped in from the left-hand side and Coleraine keeper Rory Brown appeared to carry the ball over the line, although Linfield’s Kirk Miller tried to claim he got a touch.

It’s been over fifty years since Coleraine won their one and only Irish title. Whilst they have both domestic cup competitions in recent years, they are in a group of clubs in Northern Ireland that make up the majority of the Premiership. Winning the league leads to European football, which brings in more money and so the cycle continues. In recent seasons that has led to Larne and Linfield monopolising the honours, winning seven of the last eight league titles. Alas, the first half display showed that status quo was unlikely to change this season, with Linfield adding a third in the 41st minute when Kyle McLean netted from close range.

Fair play to the home fans who kept up their support in the second half, although Linfield could and should have added to their goal tally on numerous occasions. If at the other end the home side could have grabbed one of the efforts they had then perhaps they could have staged a remarkable come back. But it wasn’t to be and the fans headed out on the final whistle with the talk turning to the Wolves v Liverpool game at 5.30pm.