Glenavon 0-0 Coleraine
Danske Bank Premiership
Mourneview Park
Saturday 19th November 2022
Match report by Calum Jones
Glenavon had to settle for a point against Coleraine at Mourneview Park on Saturday afternoon in a game that finished 0-0.
It’s a match the Lurgan Blues will feel they really should have won, however, as they dominated for large spells but failed to convert a number of opportunities.
It was the visitors who carved out the first real opportunity of the game in the eighth minute when Michael McCrudden crossed from the right to find Josh Carson at the back post, but he couldn’t direct his shot on target.
Eoin Bradley missed a glorious opportunity to put Glenavon ahead against his former club in the 16th minute. Danny Wallace made a brilliant run down the left flank before whipping a great cross to the back post where Bradley was lurking. The striker appeared to be caught in two minds, unsure whether to attack the ball with his boot or his head. In the end, he attempted a diving header, but failed to make contact in the six-yard box, and the chance was gone.
The Lurgan Blues squandered another great opportunity just three minutes later. Sean Ward played a ball forward from the halfway line to find Peter Campbell on the right. The winger cut inside before teeing up Matthew Fitzpatrick to have a shot from 15 yards. The forward side-footed his effort over the bar when most fans were expecting to see the net bulge.
Campbell had a chance of his own four minutes before the break. Bradley spread a ball out to the left to find the winger, but Kieran Farren did well to block Campbell’s low left-foot strike.
The Bannsiders very nearly grabbed the lead in the penultimate minute of the first half. McCrudden saw his shot strike the post after he’d latched onto a loose ball in the Glenavon box. A follow-up effort from Lee Lynch was blocked, only for the ball to fall invitingly for Farren. His shot was struck well, but it was straight at goalkeeper Rory Brown, who got two strong hands to it, and Matthew Snoddy eventually managed to clear.
Brown’s opposite number Gareth Deane was called into action in the Coleraine goal three minutes into the second period. He got down well to save a low Bradley shot.
Glenavon nearly went ahead in fortuitous circumstances in the 62nd minute. Snoddy attempted to cross from the right, but the ball came off a Coleraine defender, looped over Deane and was heading for the net until Farren made a timely clearance for the visitors.
Snoddy was involved again three minutes later, with the midfielder firing a shot wide of goal after he’d been found with a low cross from the right.
Coleraine had Farren to thank again on 67 minutes when he cleared off the line once more. The ball fell to Campbell in the box after Deane made a poor contact with a punch when attempting to clear after a Mark Haughey cross from the right. With the goalkeeper out of the equation, Campbell sent the ball towards goal with his weaker right foot, but there was Farren to hook clear from the goal-line again.
Campbell had another opportunity in the 78th minute. Bradley won a header and knocked the ball into the path of Glenavon’s number 10. Again, he hit the target, but his shot was straight at Deane this time.
There was more last-gasp defending from the Bannsiders on 82 minutes. Micheal Glynn picked Fitzpatrick out with a cross following a short corner taken by Sean Ward. Fitzpatrick’s header looked to be goalbound, but Dean Jarvis was on hand to head clear.
Three minutes after that, Fitzpatrick teed Campbell up for a shot, but the winger didn’t make the right connection with the ball, slicing his shot wide of goal.
Both sides might have hit winners in the dying minutes of the game. Coleraine substitute Evan McLaughlin crossed from the right to find McCrudden in the 86th minute. The forward’s glancing header went narrowly over the bar.
At the other end, on 88 minutes, Ward sent over a cross from the right and found Fitzpatrick. He headed over the top when he will feel that he should have at least tested Deane, and so the game finished 0-0.
The result means Coleraine remain four points clear of Glenavon in the Danske Bank Premiership standings. The Lurgan Blues also slipped down a place into eighth, following Carrick Rangers’ 2-0 victory over Portadown.
Next Saturday (26th November) sees Glenavon make the trip to Stangmore Park to take on 11th-placed Dungannon Swifts. Kick-off will be at 3pm.
MATCH SPONSOR – SM Vint & Co. Banbridge
BALL SPONSOR – Gordon Gough
MAN OF THE MATCH SPONSOR – Jonathan Burns
Glenavon: 1. Rory Brown, 3. Micheal Glynn, 5. Mark Haughey (C), 6. Andrew Doyle, 7. Matthew Snoddy, 9. Matthew Fitzpatrick, 10. Peter Campbell, 16. Isaac Baird, 23. Daniel Wallace, 30. Sean Ward, 80. Eoin Bradley
Subs: 2. Conor Kerr (for 5. Mark Haughey, 80’), 21. Aaron Prendergast (for 7. Matthew Snoddy, 80’), 4. Calum Birney (for 6. Andrew Doyle, 82’), 26. Joshua Doyle (for 9. Matthew Fitzpatrick, 90+2’); not used: 8. Michael O’Connor, 17. Conor McCloskey, 28. Robert Garrett
Goals: None
Yellow cards: 9. Matthew Fitzpatrick (11’), 5. Mark Haughey (36’), 30. Sean Ward (64’), 4. Calum Birney (87’)
Coleraine: 1. Gareth Deane (GK), 3. Dean Jarvis, 6. Aaron Jarvis, 8. Stephen Lowry, 10. Michael McCrudden, 11. Joshua Carson, 14. Kieran Farren, 15. Stephen O’Donnell (C), 16. Lee Lynch, 21. Jack O’Mahony, 25. Conor McDermott
Subs: 7. Conor McKendry (for 25. Conor McDermott, 58’), 9. James McLaughlin (for 16. Lee Lynch, 70’), 19. Evan McLaughlin (for 11. Joshua Carson, 80’); not used: 20. Martin Gallagher (GK), 4. Adam Mullan, 5. Rodney Brown
Goals: None
Yellow cards: 6. Aaron Jarvis (45’), 14. Kieran Farren (69’)
Referee: Raymond Crangle
