Bannsiders ease into Irish Cup sixth round

Coleraine comfortably booked their place in the sixth round of the Irish Cup with a thumping 4-0 win over Crusaders at the Showgrounds on Friday night.

Scoreless at half-time, the sending off of Crusaders defender Brendan Hamilton immediately after half-time proved pivotal.

The home side scored from the resulting free-kick after Hamilton had picked up a second yellow card for fouling Zane Okoro and went on to win at their ease.

Ben Wylie delivered an inviting cross into the heart of the Crusaders defence from the dead ball situation where defender Mark Connolly rose highest to power a header into the roof of the net past Crusaders goalkeeper Musa Nimaga for his first goal for the club.

The Bannsiders dominated possession after the goal and doubled their advantage just after the hour mark through a cleverly executed free-kick from Will Patching, deceiving the Crues keeper and beating him with a sweetly taken free-kick from the edge of the box.

Two minutes later it was 3-0 and this time it was James Akintunde with his first goal for Coleraine after joining in the January transfer market, rifling home following a sweeping move down the left hand side.

And there was still time for a fourth, Joel Cooper skipping away from a bedraggled Crusaders defence to poke home from a narrow angle.

The hosts had chances to extend their lead in the closing stages but it mattered little, the four goals securing the win and a place in the next round of the Irish Cup.

Bannsiders boss Ruaidhri Higgins admitted he was pleased with his players' performance and praised the contributions of the new faces, among them Connolly, Akintunde, former Shelbourne captain Mark Coyle and local teenager Senan Devine, recalled from a successful loan spell at H&W Welders.

Home draw in the next round please.