Below par Bannsiders lose ground in title race

Outfought and out thought.

That about sums up Coleraine's display in a 3-1 defeat to Dungannon Swifts at Stangmore Park on Saturday.

Aside from an early chance for Matthew Shevlin, the visitors were dismantled in an opening 45 minutes which must rank as one of the worst since Ruaidhri Higgins became manager.

First half goals from Sean McAllister, Leo Alves and Danny Wallace gave the hosts a commanding half-time lead and despite a James Akintunde goal shortly after the restart held on for a first home league win over Coleraine in over five years.

Rodney McAree's side were on the front foot from the off and opened the scoring after just 11 minutes.

The visitors’ defence failed to deal with Steven Scott’s long throw and Sean McAllister was quickest to react, directing the ball into the corner past Coleraine goalkeeper Ryan Schofield from near the penalty spot.

The hosts doubled their lead midway through the opening half as Leo Alves reacted quickest to fire home from 10 yards after Schofield had saved Tiernan Kelly’s initial shot.

And they made it 3-0 before the break when Alves' corner was headed on at the near post by Adam Glenny in the direction of an unmarked Danny Wallace who blasted a volley into the corner of the net from six yards out.

The Bannsiders were thrown a lifeline five minutes after the restart when substitute James Akintunde, one of four new faces introduced at half-time, rose unchallenged to head home Zane Okoro’s corner from close range.

The same player went close again, from a Ben Wylie corner, but this time he was unable to keep his header on target as the visitors upped the tempo.

In the end, Dungannon Swifts saw the game off comfortably for a win which all but cements their place in the top six come the split.

As for Coleraine, there'll no doubt be plenty of soul searching at training this week as to how a team like Dungannon, with one win and four losses in their previous five games, could so completely get the better of a side unbeaten in six and with designs on challenging for the league title.