Our big push this week was to back up a win with another one and thankfully we achieved that, says Coleraine boss Oran Kearney after 2-0 success at Newry City

The Bannsiders boosted their top-six credentials by sealing a 2-0 win at the Newry Showgrounds as first-half goals from Conor McKendry and Matthew Shevlin did the damage.

Speaking after the game, Kearney said that he warned his players pre-match about "generating their own atmosphere" after going from the highs of beating Linfield under the Friday night lights.

He explained: "I said to the players before the game that you can't not get up for the Friday night game at Linfield with the huge crowd under the lights and the adrenaline that fuels it.

"On the day we don't need floodlights, the pitch is really good compared to the last two times we've visited here where it looked bobbly and dry, and obviously we're not going to have the same crowd that we had for the Linfield game.

"So, that was the big warning before the game that the Linfield one is the easy one which takes care of itself, but the important thing is that we generate our own atmosphere today.

"I thought how we started the game, and in particular our first-half performance, the only negative was that we should have been more ahead at half-time.

"In the second-half, we didn't have any scares at our end and we probably could have added a couple of goals but sometimes it's nice to win 2-0 and show that ugly side of doing it."

Coleraine even had the luxury of missing a penalty at 1-0 as Jamie McGonigle’s spot-kick was saved by Conor Mitchell as the Bannsiders recorded back-to-back Premiership wins for the first time since October.

"I said a few times where you're looking for that bit of momentum in the season and there's been plenty of times where we've picked up a victory and haven't followed it up the following week,” Kearney added.

"The big push this week was to make sure we did that.

"Only us can make the season come together.

"I think bar Stephen O'Donnell and Josh Carson, and we have a couple of others around the periphery, we've got the injured numbers down from six or seven to two...and that’s been a big difference.”