Ballinascreen and coleraine will meet again at Owenbeg this evening (7.45pm) to determine
which club will meet holders Ballinderry in the John Mclaughlin cup final.
Their first encounter ended in a 0-6 draw, with both sides strong on defensive strategy but lacking invention in the attacking zone. it was a game of few scores, with several barren periods on both sides - Ballinascreen failing to score for 33 minutes after they went 0-4 to 0-1 ahead in the 18th minute.
Ballinascreen manager Mickey Boyle agreed it was a concern.
"aye it is, but they are a very good defensive side and they are very hard to break down.
But that does concern us as that is too long at this level of football to go without scoring," he stated.
"i thought our boys showed excellent resilience at the end to get away with a draw. i think it is still all to play for in the next game.
"They are a good team, but i believe we are a good team, so we'll just have to see what happens on Thursday night." coleraine manager sean McGoldrick reckoned both sides will be happy to battle it out again.
"conditions were very difficult out there. Both sides will be happy to get away with a draw out there. Both sides had chances to win it. The free at the end, i would have put my house on ciaran (McGoldrick - his son) putting it over," he said.
"But we cannot complain. We did not play well. But to be fair you can only play as well as you're allowed, so Ballinascreen have to take credit for that. We're just relieved to have another go at it.
"some of our fellas looked a bit lackadaisical and we're not as sharp as i'd have hoped we might have been.
"i thought that they were up for the game more than we were, especially in the first half when we were doing well to be hanging in there. But we had opportunities, we hit the upright and Ciaran (pictured) had the chance for a goal."
Ballinascreen's John scullion had to come off 10 minutes into the second half and could be a doubt for this evening's game. niall Holly and aidan Mullan were second half replacements for coleraine and they could be in line for a starting place if sean McGoldrick decides to freshen up a side that lacked the attacking instincts normally associated with coleraine sides. it remains to be seen if either side abandons the ultra-defensive formations of the drawn game.
Both sides are very capable of running up big scores, but this could be another low-scoring affair unless one or other decides on a bold approach.