The former Scottish international striker applauded the travelling support at the final whistle after his team took points off the Bannsiders for only the third time in 13 games

Duncan Ferguson’s reign in East Belfast got off to a battling start after Jordan Stewart claimed a share of the spoils against leaders Coleraine at The Showgrounds.

The former Scottish international striker applauded the travelling support at the final whistle after his team took points off the Bannsiders for only the third time in 13 games.

A moment of magic from Player of the Year Joel Cooper was the only difference between the two teams in a gritty game with sparse goalmouth action until Jordan Stewart levelled in the 83rd minute with a stooping header.

The Glens remain 14 points behind Coleraine with a game in hand and the league is likely beyond Ferguson’s team – but this was a heartening start that will give Glentoran fans hope.

Ferguson made three changes to the team that beat Limavady United 1-0, bringing Zeno Rossi, Stewart and Jamie Douglas in for Ross Clarke, Daniel Larmour and Jack Malone, while Ruaidhri Higgins made one, bold change, swapping Will Patching for Rob Slevin.

The Scottish warrior seemed to have the Glens fired up before kick-off, for the East Belfast side carried the fight to their hosts in the opening exchanges.

However, they were kept at arm’s length by a robust Coleraine backline as the hosts grew into the game and began pushing Glentoran into their own territory. Ferguson’s team held their own for a period but cracked on 21 minutes when Cooper broke the deadlock in fine style.

The jewel in Higgins’ crown and captain on the night dummied a pass down the right flank to allow Ben Wylie to run onto it and flick a ball back to Cooper inside the channel.

The Ballyclare man shimmied to evade Marcus Kane, then arced a peach of a curler beyond Andrew Mills from the corner of the box.

Glentoran wilted in the face of adversity at crucial times last season so how would they fare in the Ferguson era?

The former Everton cult figure was both visible and vocal in his technical area, urging his new team on in an attempt to get back on level terms with the Boylesports Premiership pace-setters, who won their previous four games in a row and scoring 12 goals in the process.

The Glens tried to pass their way back into the encounter but were equally thwarted, however to their credit they didn’t buckle in the face of waves of attack before the interval.

Matty Shevlin came to life when he fired off the far post with a low shot on 49 minutes before Stewart was denied by Lewis Webb four minutes later.

Glentoran took the upper hand in the second half but had to rely on Mills denying substitute Lyndon Kane to stay in the game before the visitors equalised.

Clarke left the bench to lay off to Ryan Cooney, whose cross saw Stewart dip low to nod past Webb from eight yards.

A satisfying start for Ferguson but he inherits the same problem his predecessor Declan Devine encountered – a lack of threat in front of goal.