Oran Kearney had no hesitation about handing teenage Coleraine star his first Premiership start

Matthew Shevlin’s 97th minute header, which put a major dent in the Blues’ title ambitions, secured a 2-2 draw for the Bannsiders at Windsor Park and extended their unbeaten run to eight matches ahead of today’s home clash with Crusaders.

Gaston made his Coleraine debut in the closing stages of last season aged 15 and has been involved in many senior matchday squads this term alongside starring for the club’s reserves, who currently sit top of the U20 Premiership.

What has been a mixed campaign for the Bannsiders – they won one league match in 11 between mid-November and late-January – could still end on a European high and Kearney admits the fortunes of his side delayed Gaston’s deserved introduction.

"I've no doubt it probably raised a few eyebrows, throwing in somebody at 16 years of age, but even when I named the team nobody batted an eyelid in the changing room, there wasn't a huge hullabaloo about it from that perspective,” he said. “Alfie's trained with us for nine months.

“It's not one of those on a whim where you're grabbing somebody and throwing them in to try and create a bit of noise of whatever. He deserves it – he's probably been ready for it for a few months.

“The biggest thing that's hurt Alfie this year is probably us and the fact that we went through a period with a lot of injuries and lacking a lot of leadership. It just wasn't the right time to throw Alfie in and I suppose it would have been cruel on that side.

“The important thing about the Linfield game was we played him in a central role but we surrounded him with quality and experience everywhere and that allowed him to flourish.

“Ideally I wanted this to be a lot earlier in the season but, sadly, we just haven't been in a place where you feel confident and safe that you're putting him in an environment where he doesn't suffer as a young player, rather than growing.

“I thought from the word go (against Linfield) he was really good but I'm not shocked because that's the Alfie that we know.”

Coleraine’s unbeaten run has coincided with a return to top form for last season’s Golden Boot winner Shevlin, who has now netted five times in his last four appearances.

The 25-year-old has missed parts of the season through injury but Kearney admits he’s delighted to have his star man back firing once again.

"He quickly gets into the groove and he has a fantastic work ethic,” he added. “He has a great attitude but it's been a frustrating season for him.

“I've no problem in saying it: we've been over reliant on his goals over the past couple of years. We joked about if he was ever out of the team for a few months what would we do!

“Jamie's (McGonigle) only arrived in as Matthew's arrived back so we have lacked goals massively. He has that knack of scoring.

“You look at his last three goals – one was an instinctive first time finish, the other was two or three good touches and a great finish into the side netting and the one against Linfield was an instinctive header.

“He scores all types of goals more than anything because he just works hard and we're delighted to have him back.”