Coleraine came out on top in their re-arranged Boxing Day derby with local rivals Ballymena United who finished with nine men at the Showgrounds on Tuesday evening.
Coleraine 3 - 1 Ballymena United
Despite 90 minutes of frantic action - and several controversial decisions by referee Alan Black - all the talk off the pitch centered on man of the moment Rory Patterson who may well have played his final game for the club.
The striker - who has signed a pre-contract deal to join Glentoran in the summer - could be on his way to the Oval before the end of the transfer deadline at the end of the month.
Respective bosses David Platt and Alan McDonald are due to have talks, with the Glens keen on a player-swap deal which the Bannsiders will consider before making a final decision on the player's future.
If Patterson does complete his switch, Coleraine will insist he cannot play against them when the two teams meet in the league at Ballycastle Road on Saturday.
The home side made a dream start and Patterson played a key role. He controlled Davy O'Hare's clearance before playing the ball over the top of the United defence and Darren Boyce beat Sean O'Neill to score his 15th goal of the season with only 73 seconds on the clock.
Ballymena recovered from their desperate start and carved out the best opportunities throughout the remainder of the first half.
Mark Surgenor volleyed a Kevin Kelbie cutback wide on nine minutes and two minutes later O'Hare superbly touched Michael Smith's shot over the crossbar after a fine solo run by the defender.
Ballymena were rocked on 31 minutes when Chris Ramsey was harshly shown a straight red card for a foul on Patterson.
Aaron Stewart also went close as he got a touch to Gary Haveron's free-kick but the ball rolled past the far post.
United were out of luck again two minutes after the restart when Smith's ball caught out the home defence but Kelbie's lob came back off the crossbar.
The Sky Blues were not to be denied however and deservedly drew level on the hour mark.
Noel Anderson flicked on Albert Watson's ball and substitute David Cushley drilled the ball home with a great first time finish.
Referee Black then took centrestage. On 72 minutes he denied Coleraine what appeared to be a blatant penalty when Stephen Carson went down inside the box under a challenge from Smith.
Within a minute United were reduced to nine men. Anderson , booked just 11 minutes earlier, appeared to be tripped by Kyle McVey who himself had been cautioned. Instead, referee Black showed a second yellow to the ex-Bannsider for diving.
Coleraine took full advantage of the extra men to finally put an end to the brave challenge of Roy Walker's side.
Patterson rolled the ball to Carson on 77 minutes and the winger scored with a low drive to the near post from just inside the box.
Victory was secured three minutes from time when Patterson again acted as provider to set up substitute Stephen Dooley who made no mistake with a low angled drive.
Ballymena's unhappy trip to Coleraine could also prove costly as the game was held up as missiles were thrown as goalkeeper Davy O'Hare - incidents certain to be included in the official match report.
COLERAINE: O'Hare, Beverland (Gibson 76), Hegarty, McVey, Boyce, Patterson, Carson, Mukendi, Tommons (for Dooley 67), Harkin. (Substitutes not used: P.McLaughlin, Tolan, Canning)
BALLYMENA UNITED: O'Neill, Smith, Colligan (Cushley 30), Haveron, Watson, Ramsey, Stewart, Carson (McNeill 80), Surgenor, Kelbie (McCaughern 85), Anderson. (Substitutes not used: Nelson,Taggart)
REFEREE: Alan Black (Antrim)
© UTV News