KEEPER OPTIONS OPEN AT LEADERS

Coleraine 0

Cliftonville 0

BY DARREN FULLERTON

CLIFTONVILLE boss Paddy Mclaughlin says he has a welcome problem on his hands with two underage internationals vying for the Reds No1 shirt.

Northern Ireland U21 keeper Declan Dunne has been a first team regular this season but it was Luke Mcnicholas (above) who kept a clean sheet in Saturday’s trip to Coleraine.

It was the Republic of Ireland U21 star’s first league outing for the club and Cliftonville’s first away clean sheet this season.

“Declan has been superb for us, but we’re very lucky to have two international goalkeepers and why not take advantage of that?” said Mclaughlin.

“Luke has been training really well, he’s in great shape and we probably haven’t been using him enough in terms of what he brings to the table.

“He has had to be patient. He’s been away a couple of times with the Republic and Declan with the North and we wanted to rotate to keep boys on their toes.

“Declan has been faultless, but we felt it was a good opportunity to put Luke in against Coleraine and it paid off.

“He made a couple of top saves, he was a reassuring presence and his distribution was excellent.”

In blustery conditions, Eoin Bradley rattled the bar for Coleraine before Jonny Addis was denied a late winner by Gareth Deane at the other end.

“They hit the bar and might argue they could have won it, but their keeper has also made a brilliant save at the end,” said Mclaughlin.

“We came here to win, but they nullified our key players and we nullified them.

“It’s a tough league and I think a draw was a fair result.”