Remember, remember the fifteenth of November – the day when, after a 13-match wait, Dungannon Swifts finally recorded a league win.
The form book was turned on its head at The Showgrounds where Coleraine’s superb run was brought to a crashing halt.
Two first-half goals gifted Dungannon only their second victory of the campaign.
Ryan Harpur opened the scoring inside 10 minutes, with Andrew Mitchell doubling the lead with a close-range finish.
The turning point came just before the interval when Coleraine missed a penalty.
And while a late goal from Gary Browne ensured a tense finish, Dungannon deservedly hung on to collect a priceless win.
They remain in the relegation zone but have moved their points tally into double figures and stretched the gap on bottom side Warrenpoint.
The priority for Dungannon boss Darren Murphy will be to build on this victory.
With back-to-back home games next up, Murphy’s next objective is addressing his side’s terrible record at Stangmore Park.
Coleraine are the country’s form side but rarely showed the level of performance which had brought four straight victories.
Dungannon did ride their luck at times, and had a major let-off in the opening minutes.
A free-kick from Neil McCafferty came back off the post and dropped perfectly for Michael Hegarty, who seemed set for a tap-in.
But the ex-Swifts midfielder, eight yards out, somehow hooked the ball wide.
If that was a sign that this could be Dungannon’s day, then another came when a horrible mistake gifted Harpur the opening goal.
His free-kick from 35 yards had plenty of pace and power, but seemed to be heading straight for Michael Doherty.
Yet the Coleraine goalkeeper misjudged its flight, allowing the ball to squirm under his body for the most fortuitous of goals.
Luck was again on Swifts’ side a minute later when Ian Parkhill crossed and Hegarty’s close-range header bounced off the crossbar.
However, Dungannon – with just one change from the side which faced Ballymena in midweek –began to grow in confidence.
Harpur took a short pass from Jamie Glackin and tried his luck from distance, sending a right-foot strike just wide as the goalkeeper scrambled to get across.
The game turned on a five-minute spell late in the half.
First Dungannon doubled their lead when Jamie Tomelty advanced down the left and crossed to the back post.
Harpur’s return delivery hit the bar but dropped perfectly for Mitchell, who grabbed his first league goal by heading in from close range.
Then, just before the break, a rash challenge by Fra Brennan on Mark Miskimmin saw Coleraine awarded a penalty and, potentially, a route back into the game.
However, Andy Coleman guessed correctly, diving to his right to push McCafferty’s spot-kick away.
Perhaps deflated by the miss, Coleraine struggled to find any sort of urgency in the second half.
Indeed, Dungannon should have scored a third when the impressive Mitchell supplied a great cross which was just beyond Glackin’s reach. Terry Fitzpatrick teed up Glackin again but his strike was straight at the goalkeeper.
Parkhill went close for Coleraine when he skipped past several challenges, only to fire over.
Shane McGinty and McCafferty also had chances, but it wasn’t until the 85th minute that Dungannon came under any sort of pressure.
A ball forward was flicked on by Parkhill for Gary Browne, who stretched to divert a right-foot effort beyond Coleman.
It ensured a tense finish, but Dungannon held on.
COLERAINE: Doherty, Kane, Canning, Ogilby, Douglas, Beverland, Hegarty (McNeill, 60), McCafferty, Parkhill, McGinty, Miskimmin (Browne, 72)
Subs not used: McIlmoyle, Owens, Watt
DGN SWIFTS: Coleman, Burns, Wilson, Brennan, Armstrong, Hutchinson, Hazley, Harpur, Glackin (McCullough, 88), Mitchell (Liggett, 67), Tomelty (Fitzpatrick, 51)
Subs not used: S Lavery, Sanusi
Referee: Tim Marshall (Irvinestown)
