COLERAINE RESERVES ........... 1
DERGVIEW .......................... 6
By Terry Patterson
HAT-tricks by strike duo Gareth Sproule and Ryan Campbell fired a rusty Dergview into the third round of the WKD Cup at Portstewart and yet it was central defender, Colin Robinson and left-back, John Carlin who caught the eye.
Robinson's vision and distribution were immaculate on the day, while Carlin had his best outing of the season in what joint manager, Tommy Canning described as "a good day at the office in which all 14 players used played well".
The same could not be said of a Bannsiders outfit laced with a sprinkling of first-teamers and some fringe players. It was very much a one-sided tie with Dergview probing throughout, looking stronger in every department and creating most of the chances.
Sproule got the Dergview show on the road during the opening exchanges in which the home keeper made splendid stops to deny Sean Ferry and Campbell but then blotted his copybook. He spilled Campbell's flashing but off-target effort which came courtesy of Carlin's fine ball down the left and Sproule swooped to open the scoring.
Midway through the half Campbell doubled the lead from a controversial penalty awarded when Andrew Sproule and the keeper disputed Ferry's left-sided cross. There seemed to be little or no contact between the pair and the Dergview camp made no claims but when the referee pointed to the spot Campbell duly rifled the ball to the keeper's bottom left-hand corner.
Just after the half-hour Gareth Sproule extended the lead, prospering as the home custodian allowed yet another one get away. Having made a decent save as the influential Sproule pounced on a long clearance he allowed the ball cannon back off his body into the hitman's path and the spearhead swept it into an empty net.
The Bannsiders fashioned just one opportunity in the opening 45 minutes - at 1-0 - when a right-sided corner was not dealt with with any conviction by the Tyrone men. However, an alert James O'Reilly in the visiting goal produced an excellent stop.
"Despite leading 3-0 going into the break I was not entirely pleased," admitted Canning.
It went according to plan with the fourth goal coming direct from the training ground. Aaron Walsh's perfectly-weighted free kick picked out Andrew Sproule loitering alongside the wall and his driven right-sided cross presented Gareth Sproule with a tap-in to seal his hat-trick.
Soon afterwards Gary Dickson replaced Walsh who had picked up a yellow card, while the hosts injected some young blood into their ranks. A sparkling long-range one-two between their left-sided midfielder and striker paved the way for the former to blast the ball across O'Reilly into the bottom corner.
It was a wake-up call of sorts and Dergview, who brought Stephen Campbell and Adam Lecky off the bench for Andrew Sproule and skipper, Davy Burke respectively regained the initiative going into the final quarter.
Campbell's quickly-taken corner caught Coleraine napping and found Gareth Sproule on the edge of the area. He laid the ball off to an unmarked Campbell who tucked it away from 14 yards. The six-hit was completed with seven minutes remaining.
"I'm very happy on several counts," enthused Canning. "Happy with the second-half reaction, happy that both men up top hit three, happy that 14 players got a run-out and happy to be in the third round."
Dergview (4-4-2) – O'Reilly; Carlin, Donaghy, Gallagher, Robinson; A Sproule (S Campbell), Ferry, Burke (capt., Lecky), Walsh (Dickson); G Sproule, R Campbell; subs, not used, Forsythe, McCaskie.
