Bannsiders suffer a dose of the Blues

A day that had promised so much ended in abject disappointment as Linfield inflicted a second defeat of the season on Coleraine at Windsor Park on Saturday.

The Bannsiders travelled to the national stadium as league leaders and with thoughts of extending their lead at the top of the Irish Premiership table.

By the end of the evening, though, they had been humbled by David Healy and his players who now must be very firmly in the conversation about potential title winners this season.

The defeat, perhaps even more the manner of the loss, had Bannsiders boss Ruaidhri Higgins questioning his approach in the immediate aftermath of the fixture.

Not for the first time his players were undone by their opponents’ ability to eke out a result even when not dominating possession.

The away side enjoyed seeing plenty of the ball in the opening 45 minutes but were rocked when their hosts broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time.

Coleraine conceded a free-kick just inside the Linfield half and, in scenes reminiscent of the first goal in the 3-1 defeat at the Showgrounds in September, took the kick quickly.

Again, the alertness caught Coleraine cold. With the defence stretched, on loan Bohemians winger Rhys Brennan capitalised, nipping in in front of right back Finn Tonks to deftly guide his effort past Lewis Webb for a killer blow.

The first goal in any game is crucial but particularly when you are facing a team unbeaten since an opening day defeat at home to Ballymena United and roared on by a passionate home support.

The visitors needed to respond after the break but, instead, it was the home side who came out all guns blazing.

The signs were already ominous before Linfield doubled their lead through Adam Frizzell following a lightning counter attack.

The ironic thing is the goal came from one of Coleraine’s more promising moves, Ben Wylie skipping past a number of challenges in the middle of the park to open up the Linfield defence.

With Ben Doherty screaming for the ball on his left Wylie inexplicably chose to try and play in Joel Cooper on his opposite side.

Linfield won possession, swept downfield, and picked out Frizzell who ghosted past Will Patching before drilling home his third league goal of the season.

There was still, arguably, time for Coleraine to mount a comeback.

Higgins, who had been readying his subs immediately prior to Linfield’s second goal, made four changes in one fell swoop in a bid to rescue something from a game that was quickly running away from them.

And the bald truth is that the changes had little to no effect.

With a little under 20 minutes left on the clock Kitt Nelson simply waltzed through a static Coleraine defence to score a third and make the game safe for the Blues.

It was a chastening defeat for Coleraine who have suffered two heavy defeats at the hands of Linfield by the beginning of November.

The aggregate scoreline of 6-1 tells its own tale and hints at some underlying issues, which Higgins to his credit touched on his post match comments.

Those issues need addressed soon with the rivals set to meet for a third time, again at the national stadium, at the end of December.

A third capitulation could have serious repercussions for Coleraine’s dream of lifting the Gibson Cup next May.

LINFIELD: Johns, Shields, McClean, Frizzell (Wells '88 mins), Nelson (Mulgrew '81 mins), Hall (Nolan '88 mins), Brennan (Millar '73 mins), Brown, Baird, Fitzpatrick (Moore '73 mins), McCullough.

Subs Not Used: Glavin (GK), Leahy.

COLERAINE: Webb, Stewart, Patching (Henderson '68 mins), Shevlin (Brooks '54 mins), Cooper, Ives, Wilson, McDonald (Boyle '54 mins), Wylie (McGregor '54 mins), Doherty, Tonks (Thomson '54 mins).

Subs Not Used: Schofield (GK), Dunne.

Referee: Tim Marshall