Connah’s Quay manager Andy Morrison praised his side following their 2-0 win over Coleraine in the Irn-Bru Cup yesterday.
The Nomads ground out a hard-fought win against their Northern Irish opponents in equally as difficult conditions as the strong winds from Storm Callum swirled around the Deeside Stadium.
Andy Owens rubber stamped the victory deep into added time after skipper George Horan 60th-minute header had given Connah’s Quay the advantage.
Connah’s Quay will enter Tuesday’s quarter-final draw with an air of confidence after overcoming two difficult sides.
“It’s fantastic, we’re in the last eight,” said Morrison. “We have been to Scotland and beaten Falkirk, a Scottish Championship team with a great history.
“We’ve beat Coleraine, who lost the title on the last day of last season, and were 34 games unbeaten until last weekend, and we’ve just turned them over and it’s fantastic.”
Coleraine, who finished the game with nine men, looked the stronger team in the first-half but unravelled after Horan put the Nomads ahead.
“My team didn’t start right, there were too many poor decisions and too many poor first touches,” said Morrison.
Coleraine felt they should have been awarded for a penalty when Declan Poole appeared to make a mistimed challenge in the area and Aaron Burns failed to hit the target for the visitors, after he had pounced on Callum Morris’ failed clearance.
A change in shape at half-time saw Connah’s Quay gain the ascendancy, as a change to a five-man midfield saw the Nomads wrestle control of the game.
Andy Owens, now playing as a lone striker, broke through but was denied by the goalkeeper after a upfield clearance from Nomads’ deputy stopper Jon Rushton.
It was Owens’ long throw-in which resulted in Connah’s Quay finding the breakthrough as George Horan rose highest to break the deadlock.
Two minutes later, Coleraine’s afternoon worsened when Stephen Lowry received his marching orders for a second bookable offence, for which they were almost immediately proved costly, when Horan headed against the crossbar.
A disastrous eight-minute period for the Northern Irish side concluded when Stephen O’Donnell’s straight red card for hauling down Andy Owens saw them reduced to nine players.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Coleraine almost levelled when Burns flighted a free-kick narrowly wide with five minutes remaining.
The introduction of pacey winger Michael Bakare tipped the balance into the Nomads’ favour however, making an immediate impact, holding the ball down deep in the Coleraine half before sending an inviting low cross into the crowded goalmouth for Owens to bundle over the line in added time.
“They’re a big strong aggressive team with plenty of energy. I just thought we lacked intensity but after 20 minutes where we saw that through, and we changed the shape, I just thought we got a foothold in it and I was really confident second half that we’d go and win the game,” surmised Andy Morrison after the game.
“If you look at the movement from George [Horan] and the work that’s done around that to allow him the space to come and attack the ball – we’ve done a lot of work around that it paid off.
“I understand in a game of this importance to use and the Welsh league there’s a lot of nervousness in those last 10 minutes.
“I wanted lads to be really brave and it is difficult when you’re against nine men because if they get back into it, you have only got the one goal, so we weren’t trying to get another goal.
” I just though we lacked a little bit of courage to go and get on the ball and really work them hard and we were just a little bit flat. But it’s an outstanding result because they were better than I thought they were.”