Was game of the season contender a statement from Coleraine?

Before kick-off on Friday, Ruaidhri Higgins had said it was too early to be talking about statement victories. But, after a thrilling 3-2 comeback win at title rivals and reigning champions Larne, the Coleraine manager could not help but join in the celebrations in front of the travelling support. Joel Cooper fired home the winner in a game of the season contender at Inver Park as the Bannsiders overturned a two-goal deficit to inflict a first league defeat of the season on the hosts.

The three points move Coleraine six points clear of Linfield, who have two games in hand, and 11 points clear of Larne, who have four extra matches thanks to their European exploits in the summer. While Higgins stopped short of calling it a statement victory, he could not hide his joy at the character his side showed. "The manner [of the victory] is the most pleasing thing," Higgins told BBC Sport NI. "When the second goal went in and we're away to the champions, did we let our heads drop? We didn't."

James Simpson's superb double had put the holders in front, and it looked like Larne were well on their way to a big three points of their own. But Coleraine's star-studded attack delivered in style. Cooper hammered home with half an hour to play after Larne failed to deal with Ben Doherty's cross. Doherty was involved again as Matthew Shevlin powered home a header nine minutes later. Moments after substitute Kevin O'Hara had hit the crossbar, Cooper popped up to fire home the winner with nine minutes of normal time left.

Gary Haveron was left disappointed as his side let a two-goal lead slip on home turf and described the defending from his players as "pathetic". Before Friday's game, Larne had conceded only three goals in their opening seven league matches, but that tally doubled in a devastating 21-minute burst. Haveron dismissed any notion of it being a statement win for the Bannsiders: "We've still got to play them down there. We drew the first one, they've won this one." Larne now face Linfield at Inver Park on Tuesday, looking to bounce back.

赛前周五，鲁艾德里·希金斯曾表示现在谈论“里程碑式的胜利”还为时过早。但是，在卫冕冠军、冠军竞争对手拉恩以3-2精彩逆转取胜之后，科尔雷恩主帅也忍不住加入了客队球迷面前的庆祝。乔尔·库珀在英沃公园的一场赛季焦点之战中打入致胜一球，班萨德斯队扳平了两球的落后局面，给东道主造成了本赛季联赛的首败。

这三分让科尔雷恩以领先六分的优势领先林菲尔德（对方还有两场补赛），并以11分的优势领先拉恩（对方在夏季因欧战多出四场比赛）。尽管希金斯没有直接称其为里程碑式的胜利，但他掩饰不住对球队表现出的品格的喜悦。“（胜利的）过程是最令人欣慰的，”希金斯对BBC体育北爱尔兰的贾娜·麦克凯布说，“第二个进球被打进、我们在冠军队的场地上作战时，我们有没有放弃？我们没有。”

詹姆斯·辛普森的精彩双响曾让卫冕冠军领先，拉恩看似即将收获三分。但科尔雷恩星光熠熠的进攻线发挥出色。库珀在比赛还剩半小时时头球破门，拉恩未能处理好本·多尔蒂的传中。多尔蒂再次参与其中，九分钟后马修·希尔林势大力沉地头球攻入。替补登场的凯文·奥哈拉刚刚击中横梁，库珀便现身，在常规时间还剩九分钟时打入制胜一球。

加里·哈弗伦在主场眼睁睁看着两球领先优势丢失，对球员的防守表现以“糟糕透顶”形容，他感到非常失望。在周五比赛之前，拉恩前七场联赛仅失三球，但在一段21分钟的毁灭性攻势中，这个数字翻了一番。哈弗伦否认这是班萨德斯的里程碑式胜利：“我们还要去他们的主场比赛。第一场我们战平了，这场他们赢了。”拉恩将于周二在英沃公园迎战林菲尔德，急需振作。