A quick glance at the list of top flight winners through the history of the league shows just how incredible such a feat would be for Coleraine. For starters Linfield have fifty-two titles which is more than double of the next highest number which is Glentoran's tally of twenty-three. All provincial winners combined have ten titles. Coleraine sit ninth in the winners standings with just the solitary title won back in 1973-74.
That 73-74 title success saw Coleraine win the league by five points (two points for a win in those days) from Portadown. It was certainly a case of now or never as both of Belfast's big two Linfield and Glentoran finished well off the pace in a rare year where neither were in contention. The league success also enabled Coleraine to participate in the following season's European cup. Pitted against Dutch giants Feyenoord, the Bannsiders lost 11-1 on aggregate. Alan Simpson scoring the only goal in the second leg at the Coleraine showgrounds.
In recent years Coleraine have been on the fringes of qualifying for Europe. They achieved this last season thanks to an impressive third place finish but they finished some twenty-four points off Linfield who won the title. Norwegian side FK Haugesund put an end to any European run in emphatic fashion with Coleraine being demolished 7-0 in Norway which rendered the second leg 0-0 draw meaningless.
Coleraine started the season on fire winning their first seven games to race clear of the usual contenders. The run was halted by Glentoran at the Oval on September 23rd with Coleraine playing seventy minutes with ten men after Josh Carson was red carded. The next five league games were won which included home wins over Linfield and Glentoran. The Bannsiders were held to a 2-2 draw by ten man Glenavon in November before the first, and to date, only defeat of the campaign away at Linfield.
Coleraine would be eventually caught by Crusaders following a festive dropping of points at home to Ballymena United and then away at Cliftonville. Manager Oran Kearney however signalled his intentions with the surprising capture of Stephen Dooley from Cork City who had just won the League of Ireland title a couple of months previously. Dooley a local lad being an excellent capture for the club adding some creativity. Former Derry and Institute striker Darren McCauley remains the top scorer with twelve goals one of which was Saturday's equalizer against Crusaders.
Saturday's head-to-head with Crusaders had a little bit of everything. Coleraine fell two goals behind shortly before halftime with a quick fire double from Gavin Whyte. Despite pulling a goal back almost immediately after the restart Coleraine were 3-1 down as Paul Heatley seemingly put the game beyond reach of the hosts. Then came the undoubted turning point, Colin Coates' second yellow of the afternoon just after the hour mark.
With the numerical advantage Coleraine poured forward seeking the second goal to swing the momentum firmly in their favour and it arrived barely five minutes after Coates' dismissal. Jamie McGonigle, Coleriane's second top scorer this season firing his side back into the game. Crusaders were desperate to hang onto a priceless three points that would open the gap between themselves and their opponents to four. Ten minutes after McGonigle's second goal of the game, the aforementioned McCauley got himself and his team a vital goal that bought Coleraine level. There was enough time to go on and win the game which would've put Coleraine two points ahead but just rescuing a point from being two down will no doubt feel like a point well earned as Kearney's men go on to challenge Crusaders for this season' top honor.
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