Josh Carson delighted to bag special goal for Coleraine

Carson’s sweet strike may have only been his second of the season but it was the Bannsiders 950th goal of Oran Kearney’s tenure at The Showgrounds.

The midfielder clearly enjoyed the moment as he sealed Coleraine’s progress into the last eight of the competition.

“Listen, I’ll take any goal,” said the former Ipswich Town man afterwards.

“Even if it was a tap-in from two yards I’d take it and celebrate it the exact same.

“Obviously coming off the boot as flush as it did, it was brilliant and I enjoyed the moment.

“However, first and foremost, it was just getting through to the next round, get into a quarter-final and obviously the 950th goal of Oran’s reign is always nice.

“It was like your typical Cup tie.

“Portadown came here, they are a good side, strong, physical and they limited us to very little in the first-half which was a credit to them.

“The wind played a massive part in terms of the weather but I thought we were brilliant throughout as we withstood a bit of pressure and thankfully, we went up the other end and got the second goal and killed the game.

“It was a good team performance, even though we were a wee bit sloppy at times to give them half chances but it was our own doing.

“I thought we passed the ball well, we worked hard, created chances and thankfully scored the two goals to win the game and get in the hat for the next round.

“The Irish Cup is obviously the pinnacle, you look forward to playing in it like you would the FA Cup in England.

“You want to be a part of it, you want to be there on final day and you want to do your upmost for the club, the fans, for everyone as it’s a day out.

“It’s an enjoyable moment and we strive on that at the minute and thankfully we’re just in the hat.

“Overall, today I thought to a man we were very good.”

The result means the Bannsiders have now won three out of their last four games, with two clean sheets on the bounce, and Carson wants to build on that momentum.

“Momentum is massive in football," he said.

“We sort of stuttered there for the last six weeks and it was tough and we came into the Linfield game sort of backs against the wall but we came out and performed the way that we did and got the three points.

“It’s about keeping the ball rolling, keep moving, keep getting the three points, keep getting further in cup competitions and just enjoy your football because at the end of the day, we are very lucky."