The annual festive meeting between Coleraine and Ballymena United is sure to bring out one of the biggest crowds of the season - and the fans turned out in their droves for this 'derby' clash at the Ballycastle Road.

Unfortunately it wasn't a great spectacle of football served up, as both teams may have lacked any real skill or creativity on the day - but both sides certainly made up for it in passion.

Coleraine started the first half brightly - with Damien Whitehead and Stephen Carson going close. Ironically the two players that put the Sky Blues to the sword one year ago on Boxing Day.

In-form striker, Kevin Kelbie, had Ballymena's first real opportunity when he dragged his shot across the face of the Coleraine goal.

It was the home side that dominated the possession for spells, as they had numerous corners which Paul Murphy was equal to without really being tested.

Young winger David Cushley was forced off on 33 minutes after a bad tackle from Howard Beverland. He was replaced with Stuart King on the left side of midfield.

A late rally from both teams produced the best chances of the half - firstly Noel Anderson went close before Stephen Carson's header forced Murphy to be alert. At the other end Gavin Melaugh's ambitious long-range strike had to be tipped around the post by Davy O'Hare.

The second half started at the same fast pace the first had finished with, as Craig McClean made a superbly timed tackle to deny Stephen Carson a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Ballymena started to take the game to the Bannsiders, firstly another great stop by O'Hare from Melaugh and then Simon Kelly's effort was cleared off the line by John Neill.

It looked only a matter of time before the deadlock would be broken - but against the run of play in the 73rd minute Coleraine took the lead.

Tommy McCallion's low cross from the right deceived the United defence and substitute Davy Patton - who had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes - sneaked in to finish.

However, the lead didn't last long as Ballymena's fighting spirit prevailed as Stuart King's corner on 77 minutes was flicked on by the head of Flynn, only for O'Hare to make a mistake which allowed Lowry to get the final touch to knock home the equaliser.

United pushed for a winner, but it remained a draw. Manager Tommy Wright felt it was two points dropped by his side.

"I thought their 'keeper had to work harder than ours but sometimes when you're on top and you concede a goal, it can be soul destroying but we battled back and that's why we're remaining unbeaten.

"We played well and played some good football on a difficult pitch and we're a bit disappointed only to get a point."

Teams:

COLERAINE	BALLYMENA UNITED
1: O'HARE, Davy	1: MURPHY, Paul
5: McVEY, Kyle	2: KELLY, Simon
6: ANDERSON, Noel	3: McCLEAN, Craig
7: BOYCE, Darren	4: HAVERON, Gary
10: McCALLION, Tommy (c)	5: WATSON, Albert (c)
11: CARSON, Stephen	6: FLYNN, Johnny
14: WATT, Johnny	7: LOWRY, Stephen
15: WHITEHEAD, Damien	8: SCATES, Garth
18: NEILL, John	9: CUSHLEY, David
21: HUTCHINSON, Trevor	10: KELBIE, Kevin
22: BEVERLAND, Howard	11: MELAUGH, Gavin
Substitutes	-
8: PATTON, David	12: PICKING, Mark
Replaced Trevor Hutchinson (64 mins)	Replaced Stephen Lowry (87 mins)
16: HENEGHAN, Sean	14: KING, Stuart
Not Used	Replaced David Cushley (33 mins)
17: PATTON, Gordon	15: FITZGERALD, Darren
Replaced Damien Whitehead (82 mins)	None
23: EWART, Alan	16: PATRICK, Lee
Not Used	Replaced Garth Scates (82 mins)
24: McCART, Adam	17: WRAY, Thomas
Not Used	Not Used
Yellow Cards:	-
Unknown	Unknown
Red Cards:	-
None	None