Dominant display sees Coleraine win at Seaview

A Joel Cooper double plus strikes from the front pair of Matthew Shevlin and Declan McManus earned Coleraine a commanding 4-0 win over Crusaders at Seaview.

The visitors opened the scoring midway through the first half through the lively Joel Cooper.

Dean Jarvis delivered a low ball in from the left, Jamie Glackin dummied and the former Linfield man did the rest, curling a powerful left foot shot high into the net off the underside of the crossbar from 15 yards.

Coleraine doubled their lead a minute before the break, again through Cooper, this time the forward getting on the end of a clever free-kick routine to guide his volley past Johnny Tuffey.

And it was 3-0 in added time when a defensive error from Evan Easton allowed Matthew Shevlin to stride forward before burying a low shot into the bottom corner of the net.

Crusaders improved after the interval but conceded a fourth 11 minutes from full-time when second half sub’ Declan McManus showed the Crusaders defence a clean pair of heels before rifling a right foot shot high into the roof of the net.

The win sees Coleraine maintain their unbeaten start to the season under Ruadhri Higgins.