Ballymena United's comeback hopes were dashed by a late Coleraine winner in a 3-2 defeat at The Showgrounds on Friday night. The result leaves the Sky Blues ninth in the Premiership, with four points from their opening four matches.
Coleraine took control early, with Matthew Shevlin opening the scoring after 12 minutes. Jamie Henderson doubled the home side's lead just past the half-hour mark, putting Ballymena United in a difficult position before the break. Jim Ervin's side responded after the interval, with Johnny Hood pulling a goal back nine minutes into the second half. The comeback seemed on when Conor McKee converted an 80th-minute penalty to level the scores at 2-2. However, Andy Wilson struck the decisive blow for Coleraine just five minutes later, securing all three points for the league leaders. Ballymena's frustrations were compounded in stoppage time when defender Dembo Toure was shown a yellow card.
The defeat extends a difficult run of form for Ballymena United, who have now taken just one win from their last five league outings. Their recent results show a pattern of conceding late goals, having also drawn 2-2 with Bangor last week after conceding a 90th-minute equaliser. The team's defensive record now stands at six goals conceded from four games, matching their total of six scored.
Jim Ervin acknowledged his team's fighting spirit but pointed to costly errors. "We showed great character to get back into the game twice, but we switched off at a vital moment and got punished," the Ballymena United manager said after the match. "The lads gave everything, but we have to be smarter in those key phases."
Attention now turns to a tough away fixture against high-flying Dungannon Swifts on 19 December. Dungannon currently sit second in the table, making it another significant challenge. The full schedule of upcoming games is available on our fixtures page. Ballymena United will need to address their late-game concentration quickly to improve on their current position of ninth.
