Blues book Irish Cup final place

Goals from Peter Thompson, William Murphy, Michael Carvill and Paul Munster saw the Blues claim a 4-2 victory.

Stephen Carson tapped in to put Coleraine ahead on 30 minutes, however, his opener was cancelled out when Peter Thompson levelled with a header at the end of first-half stoppage time.

Coleraine's Rory Patterson lobbed the ball over Alan Blayney to make it 2-1 on 63 minutes, before William Murphy headed in from a Robert Garrett corner on 81 minutes, to set up a superb finish to the match.

Michael Carvill fired in on 91 minutes and Paul Munster completed the afternoon for Blues fans when he made it 4-2 a minute later.

The Blues had a great chance to take the lead early on when Thompson headed just wide, before Davy O'Hare saved a glancing header from Munster and Garrett fired just off-target.

Winger Carson tapped in the opener after Damian Curran's attempted clearance hit a defender, and the Coleraine man had the simple task of scoring after the ball fell to him.

As the Blues continued to press, Thompson finally got the breakthrough when he levelled in the final action of the first half, heading in from a few yards out after Michael Gault hooked the ball into the penalty area.

Linfield started the second half brightly and Billy Joe Burns rattled the bar with a thumping 25-yard shot.

Burns saw another shot deflected wide but it was Coleraine who took the lead, when Patterson ran clear and lifted the ball over Alan Blayney into the empty net.

More chances followed for the Blues and it was Murphy who headed in from a Garrett corner to make it 2-2.

Carvill netted Linfield's third in injury time after Thompson laid the ball off to him to drill the ball into the bottom corner.

Munster tapped in Linfield's fourth to ensure a deserved victory for David Jeffrey's side.

The Blues will play Portadown in the final on 8 May.

Meanwhile, Linfield's title hopes received a boost when reigning champions Glentoran surrendered their title as they lost 2-1 at Crusaders, meaning they can no longer catch the Blues in the race for the Gibson Cup. Linfield still require one win from their three remaining fixtures with Cliftonville still capable of overhauling David Jeffrey's side.