New era gets underway with pre-season double header

THE professional era at Coleraine Football Club gets underway this weekend with a double-header of pre season friendlies.

A new-look squad will be split into two for back to back games at the Showgrounds on Saturday.

First up, at 12 noon, a Coleraine select will take on Comber Rec in the first game officially under head coach Dean Shiels.

A couple of hours later, at 3pm, a second squad of players will take to the field against H&W Welders.

Fans at either or both games will be forgiven for wondering who some of the figures on the pitch are, given the drastic overhaul in playing staff since the end of last season.

A whole host of familiar faces have exited, including former club captain Stephen O'Donnell and fans' favourite Josh Carson, both of whom will start next season at Ballymena United. Popular midfielder Stephen Lowry and striker Davy McDaid are also no longer at the club.

Others, including the formidable front partnership of Matthew Shevlin and Jamie McGonigle, and playmaker Jamie Glackin, remain at the club and have committed themselves to the new full-time model.

There have been new arrivals, too, among them defenders Cameron Stewart and Kyle McClelland and promising young midfielder Dylan Boyle who starred in an otherwise disappointing Ballymena side last term.

Saturday's games will feature a number of trialists who have spent the past week training at the Showgrounds, hoping to do enough to earn a contract at Ballycastle Road.

It all adds up to an interesting afternoon for fans who have watched on from the sidelines as the squad has undergone a dramatic overhaul and who now get their first chance to see the new look squad in action.