Despite ending goalless, the game wasn’t
short in chances. Aaron Hogg returned from injury to start between the sticks,
and he was called into early action, palming away a powerfully struck free kick.
From then on it was Stuart King’s men
who enjoyed the better of the opportunities as a misjudged header from Aaron
Traynor gifted possession to Ewan Kelly who saw his effort denied by ‘keeper
Gareth Deane who was quick off his line.
The Coleraine shot-stopper had to be
alert again on the half-hour mark to first get a hand to Lloyd Anderson’s low
shot before he gathered Jordan Gibson’s left-footed strike minutes later.
Anderson went close once more with ten
minutes left as he got his head on a Kyle Cherry corner, but Deane did well to
push the ball over the bar and make sure it stayed at deadlock at the interval.
Following a slow start to the second
half, a great pass from Emmett McGuckin, wearing the captain’s armband for the
day, picked out the run of Ben Tilney who saw his shot saved by the resolute
Deane.
The Bannsiders momentarily thought
they had found the opener when Eoin Bradley glanced a header in from Jamie
Glackin’s cross, but the celebrations were short lived with the goal flagged
for offside.
At the other end, Gibson again found
himself in a promising position in the penalty area, but he dragged his shot wide
of the far post.
With neither side able to find the
back of the net, it was to be a draw and a well-deserved point for Carrick Rangers.
Carrick Rangers: Hogg; Ervin, D.
Kelly, Mulholland; Forsythe, Cherry, Anderson, Tilney; E. Kelly (Nixon, 64
(Cushley, 80)); McGuckin (Kalla, 90+1), Gibson.
Unused substitutes: Shields, Doyle, McGimpsey,
Hoy.
Coleraine: Deane; Kane, O’Donnell,
Brown, Traynor; McKendry, Lowry, Carson, Glackin; Shevlin, Friel (Bradley, 65).
Unused substitutes: Henderson, Mullan,
Jarvis, Wilson, Parkhill, Kelly.
Referee: Lee Tavinder
