Celtic opened the scoring on 26 minutes when Liam Bradley delivered a corner into the penalty area whereupon it was headed past Lawrence McCormick by Paul McDonald.

However the Bannsiders levelled 60 seconds later through Trevor Hutchinson who nodded a Noel Anderson flick beyond Declan Brown.

And they moved in front five minutes after the interval after Jody Tolan collected the ball on the left, beat two defenders and fire past for his first goal for the club since his return.

Then, just after the hour, Stephen Carson directed the ball onto an upright before it was gratefully gathered by Brown.

Carson wasn't to be denied, though, and duly extended Coleraine's advantage on 73 minutes with a close range drive after Anderson had nodded the ball on.

The visitors did set up a grandstand finish, however, when Liam Bradley reduced the arrears eight minutes from time.