The Bannsiders now progress to the second round, to be played on January 28. The fixture draw will be made by the Ulster Branch in the coming days.
It was a positive result and the performance will boost confidence as Coleraine face Donaghadee in the league this week. Two previous encounters this season, in the league at the beginning of the season and in the recent Junior Cup final, saw Coleraine lose out to a heavier Co Down side. They will be keen to turn that situation around with a win on home soil.
In the following weeks Coleraine are away to league leaders Clogher Valley on January 21, face unknown opponents in the Towns Cup the following week and then make the long journey to Monivea in Galway for the semi-final of the All-Ireland Junior Cup on February 4.
On Saturday there were some changes to the side to take on Larne. Sitting in the lower reaches of Junior Two, Larne were the underdogs and so it turned out during the game.
Coleraine were simply too strong for the visitors in just about every department and the impressive scoreline of 66-7, when the referee blew up, could have been extended with further time.
Coleraine signalled their intentions from the off and Alan Stirling picked up the first points with a try within three minutes. David Andrews was in fine form on kicking duty and slotted the ball safely between the posts for the extras.
With 13 minutes gone scrum half Scott Caithness made an incisive break to feed the ball to Jonny Henderson for a try in the corner. The conversion drifted wide.
On 23 minutes Henderson made the initial break, followed by David Orr and finally Tommy Van Wyk cut in to score an unconverted try.
Two minutes later Willie Hunt scored after a crashing drive through the middle of the Larne defence. Andrews converted. Just on the half hour Brian Cochrane carved his way through the Larne defence from his own half, scoring under the posts and Andrews converted.
In the final move of the half, Andrews made the initial break in the centre of the field, passing to a charging Nigel Hall who ran away and scored under the posts. Andrews completed the scoring and the half time score was 38-0 to the home side.
A revitalised Larne went on the offensive from the re-start and scrum half Agnew seized his opportunity to score under the posts and convert for what would be their only score of the match.
Coleraine quickly reasserted their control of the game. Van Wyk made a forceful run, scything through the opposition from the 10-metre line to score under the posts. Andrews converted.
With 8 minutes gone Hall again scored after a blistering sprint from the half way line. Five minutes later Caithness showed great persistence chasing the ball towards the dead-ball line and winning the race to touch it down. Andrews converted both.
The final score came from Brian Cochrane who sprinted to the line from the Larne 22. Andrews converted and the ref brought proceedings to an end. Coleraine 66 – 7 Larne.
The match this weekend will be an all together different prospect and training will focus on dealing with the consistently heavier Donaghadee pack. The back line will be looking for an opportunity to run the ball, something which has been limited in the previous two encounters this season and which could well produce dividends for the Bannsiders.
In other matches at the weekend the scores were Coleraine Seconds 10 Ballynahinch Thirds 7, Limavady Seconds 0 Coleraine Thirds 23
This week’s match against Donaghadee at Rugby Avenue kicks off at 2.30pm. It is sure to be a thriller.
Coleraine First XV: A Stirling, D Ferguson, M Hunter (Carey), R Cochrane, J Gault, R Gibson, A Neely, W Hunt, S Caithness, D Andrews, J Henderson (Simpson), T Van Wyk, D Orr, N Hall, B Cochrane. Subs J Carey, S Simpson.
