Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PANENKA PENACHE
Cheeky spot-kick from Mccauley sets the tone for Coleraine
DARREN MCCAULEY admits his audacious Panenka penalty kick routine was a one-off.
The Coleraine man bagged a glorious double in his team’s win over Glenavon – a result that took the Bannsiders top of the Danske Bank Premiership table.
New boy Josh Carson and Ciaron Harkin were also on the mark, with Adam Foley and Andrew Mitchell replying for Gary Hamilton’s side.
But it was Mccauley’s cheeky opener from the penalty spot that delighted the home fans, a wonderful effort that had goalkeeper Johnny Tuffey grasping at air. I hadn’t seen it done too often in the Irish League, so I thought I would come up with something different,” chuckled Mccauley.
“Fortune favours the brave, but I don’t think I’ll be doing it again. Admittedly, I didn’t play it, it was a spur of the moment thing. It was cheeky and I think the fans enjoyed it.”
Unbeaten this season, Mccauley insists his team will continue to take one game at a time, adding: “We just want to keep this run going. It’s early days and we are not going to start talking about a title challenge.
“We’ll not be getting ahead of ourselves. The manager wouldn’t let us. We are happy to be in the position we are in at the minute.”
Following his opening party piece, Mccauley curled home a beauty before the break, but even that effort was overshadowed by Harkin’s wonder strike in the second half.
“It was a crazy kind of game,” said Coleraine boss Oran Kearney (inset). “There were six goals and there could have been a lot more.
“We are disappointed to concede a couple of goals, but when second is playing third in the league table, it was never going to be easy. We are thrilled with the the points and we have to be happy with the way we beat a team of Glenavon’s calibre.
“Darren (Mccauley) is on top of his game at the minute and I really expect him to flourish this season. His two goals showed both his audacity and quality.
“It’s been a great start to the season, five wins from five games.
It’s a real credit to the players.”
Glenavon chief Gary Hamilton admitted mistakes cost his team at the Showgrounds.
He said: “We didn’t play with the same energy levels we have been in recent weeks. We started the first half well , but then found ourselves behind. That’s the way it went for us.
“In the end, we were punished for our own mistakes. We couldn’t deal with them (Coleraine) at times.
“The amount of chances we conceded was scary. Hopefully, we can put that right next week.”