Six of the best!
Coleraine come from behind to hammer Cliftonville at the Showgrounds
A hat-trick from Joel Cooper, two from Matthew Shevlin and a first senior goal for local teenager Senan Devine capped a remarkable 6-2 win for Irish Cup finalists Coleraine, who had fallen 2-0 behind after 20 minutes to goals from Joe Gormley and Liam McStravick.
The visitors opened the scoring through top scorer Joe Gormley inside the opening 10 minutes.
Coleraine goalkeeper Ryan Schofield’s stray pass was picked off by Ryan Curran who strode forward before squaring for strike partner Joe Gormley who had the simple task of tapping home from six yards out.
Just over 10 minutes later it was 2-0 to Cliftonville, again the goal coming from some poor Coleraine play, Okoro robbed of possession, allowing Joe Gormley to play in Liam McStravick for his first goal for the north Belfast club.
Stung into action, Coleraine pulled a goal back three minutes later through Matthew Shevlin, capitalising on a poor back pass from Luke Conlan to round goalkeeper PJ Morrison before tapping into an empty net.
And it was all level just after the half hour when Coleraine’s top scorer, Joel Cooper, got on the end of an inviting Will Patching free-kick to beat Morrison from six yards out.
Cooper scored his second of the game minutes later, racing on to an incisive Dylan Boyle pass to bury a low left foot shot under the body of the onrushing Reds’ keeper.
There was still time at the end of the first half for Shevlin to score his second of the afternoon, in the right place at the right time to head home at the far post following a cleverly worked corner routine involving Patching and Cameron Stewart.
The scoring continued minutes after the restart as Joel Cooper completed his hat-trick – his third since joining the club last summer – to make it 5-2.
Again, Patching was the provider, supplying an inch perfect pass for his midfield colleague to race clear of his marker before picking his spot, curling his shot into the far corner of the goal.
It was six of the best just after the hour and a special moment for local teenager Senan Devine, scoring his first senior goal for the club with a calm finish, just moments after replacing Ben Wylie in midfield, to complete a memorable afternoon for the Irish Cup finalists.