Oran Kearney bemoans frustrating night for Coleraine

Oran Kearney admitted it was a frustrating night as his Coleraine charges couldn’t find a way past a resolute Glenavon side.
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The Bannsiders knocked on the door on several occasions with Conor McKendry crashing a shot off the underside of the bar before Stephen Lowry had a second half penalty saved by James Taylor.

The Lurgan Blues’ strong performance came as no surprise to Kearney, who was expecting a strong showing given the visitors’ quality.

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“People laugh when I say this but every team brings their problems,” he said. “There was a plethora of league winners with experience in that Glenavon side tonight so we knew it was never going to be an easy shift.

Conor McKendry looks frustrated as a chance goes begging for ColeraineConor McKendry looks frustrated as a chance goes begging for Coleraine
Conor McKendry looks frustrated as a chance goes begging for Coleraine

“We have acquitted ourselves well, we are happy with our performance, it is another clean sheet but it’s highly frustrated with the chances and the massive crowd in attendance.

“You would have loved to have seen the ground erupt with a goal and make the fans leave happy but it wasn’t to be. I’m sure when the dust settles we will find a few positives to take.

"The first half was nip and tuck where they’ve hit the post a couple of times and we’ve hit the post and had other chances, where on another night it could have been 2-2 at half-time.

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“You get the penalty straight away, and whilst it was disappointing to miss, our reaction was brilliant as we got back on the horse and we’ve gone on and on and on.

“There were some interesting decisions, there’s been some controversy and plenty of talking points, but how we haven’t got the goal which would have got us the three points I’m not sure and it’s disappointing.

“The first-half was even but the second-half with the breeze I thought we kicked on a bit more and we created plenty of chances after the penalty in particular and that’s the frustrating side of it.

“Someone said before the game we were the top goal scorers in the league but sadly you’ve got to spread those out over the games and that’s a frustrating aspect.

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"I can’t fault them, we fought right until the end, we have a really good changing room in there who are hurting at not getting over the line.

“It does feel like a defeat as we could have gained ground on the clubs who aren’t playing this weekend but Glenavon have really put it up against the likes of Larne, Glentoran and Linfield, so we knew they had a big performance in them.”