Kevin Kelbie returned from suspension for his first game of the season and from the start the game had a high tempo; with Mark Surgenor, playing his first North West Derby, getting an early booking for a tussle with Matt Crossan.

Stephen Carson signalled the home side's intent when he unleashed a rasping 25-yard volley which cannonned off the Railway End crossbar with goalkeeper Sean O'Neill stranded; however it wouldn't be long before the deadlock was broken.

On 18 minutes Carson turned provider as he left Michael Smith chasing shadows down the left flank and delievered a low cross for Rory Patterson who comfortably tap home without any real challenge from the United defence.

Three minutes later Coleraine were awarded a dubious free-kick after Gavin Taggart was alleged to have upended Gareth Tommons just outside the box. Summer signing Patterson stepped up and drilled his effort straight past the flat-footed Ballymena United wall and goalkeeper to give David Platt's side a two goal lead.

When things couldn't get any worse for Roy Walker, it did. Captain Gary Haveron went down on 28 minutes after a challenge and it was confirmed later that he had suffered a reoccurance of the broken leg that he suffered in December last year - he was replaced by Aaron Stewart in the Ballymena defence.

United were on the rocks as Patterson had a header disallowed for offside, but on the stroke of half-time the Braidmen hauled themselves back into the game as Aidan Watson picked up the ball almost 30 yards from goal and launched an unstoppable drive into the top corner.

Ballymena took the ascendency into the second half as they were level on 61 minutes when substitute George Stewart fed Andy Smith down the right channel. Smith's low cross was spilled and Scottish striker Kevin Kelbie was on hand to tap home from close range.

The game was turned on it's head three minutes later when Davy Malcolm awarded a penalty to United for a trip on Smith. The former Northern Ireland international stepped up but fired his penalty well over the bar and into the back of the Railway End at the Coleraine Showgrounds.

Sky Blue hearts were broken on 81 minutes as Rory Patterson grabbed an impressive hat-trick when he lobbed a loose ball over O'Neill, out of nothing to seal the win for the home side and leave the Sky Blues still searching for light at the end of the tunnel.

Roy Walker told the press; "We had momentum, we had everything going in our favour, we were the better team, we had the golden opportunity and didn't take it.

"We had the game in our grasp, we had the golden chalice but let it slip.

"We didn't compete in the first half. I'm not disappointed with some people but I'm certainly disappointed with others. There are things we have to try to address.

Picture: www.presseye.com

Teams:

COLERAINE	BALLYMENA UNITED
1: O'HARE, Davy	1: O'NEILL, Sean
3: CROSSAN, Matthew	2: SMITH, Michael
5: McVEY, Kyle	3: COLLIGAN, Lee
6: McLAUGHLIN, Paddy	4: HAVERON, Gary (c)
8: PATTERSON, Rory	5: SURGENOR, Mark
9: TOLAN, Jody	6: TAGGART, Gavin
10: McCALLION, Tommy	7: WATSON, Aidan
11: CARSON, Stephen	8: CARSON, Philip
15: MUKENDI, Marc	9: SMITH, Andy
16: TOMMONS, Gareth	10: McCONNELL, Nathan
22: DOOLEY, Stephen	11: OKUNAIYA, Ormon
Substitutes	-
7: BOYCE, Darren	12: STEWART, Aaron
Replaced Stephen Dooley (60 mins)	Replaced Gary Haveron (28 mins)
12: McCLEMENTS, David	13: STEWART, George
Not Used	Replaced Gavin Taggart (54 mins)
14: WATT, Johnny	14: CUSHLEY, David
Not Used	Replaced Ormon Okunaiya (63 mins)
17: HARKIN, Gareth	15: ANDERSON, Noel
Replaced Stephen Carson (83 mins)	Not Used
19: GIBSON, Richard	16: McCONNELL, Nathan
Replaced Rory Patterson (90 mins)	Not Used
Yellow Cards:	-
Unknown	Unknown
Red Cards:	-
None	None