Coleraine extended their early lead at the top of the Irish Premiership table with an impressive 3-0 win at Shamrock Park over Portadown, whose wait for their first points of the season continue.

First half goals from Matthew Shevlin and Senan Devine had the visitors comfortably in front at half-time before Will Patching sealed the points with an expertly executed penalty in the second half.

The victory sees the Bannsiders open up a four-point gap on the chasing pack and are now 11 league games unbeaten.

As for the Ports, the result is their fourth defeat in succession and leaves new manager David Jeffrey with plenty to ponder.

It took the league leaders less than five minutes to hit the front after Patching capitalised on some slack Portadown defending to slip the ball through for Shevlin.

The front man took a touch to control the pass before angling a low left footed drive out of the reach of Ports' keeper Aaron McCarey and into the bottom corner of the net.

The visitors came within the width of a post of doubling their lead after a quarter of an hour, but Ben Doherty's strike cannoned off the woodwork with McCarey beaten.

They didn't have long to wait, however, as Devine made it 2-0 just before the half hour when Doherty delivered an inswinging corner towards the front post where the midfielder rose to guide a looping header over McCarey and into the net.

Devine was denied a second soon after thanks to a tremendous reflex save from the Portadown goalkeeper and the veteran stopper was at it again to push away Rob Slevin's powerful header.

The Ports had their chances, too, in an entertaining first half, Sean O'Mahoney seeing his shot cleared off the line by Aidan Wilson and James Teelan forcing Dylan Boyle into a last-ditch block.

Coleraine weathered an early second half storm to extend their advantage with just under 20 minutes remaining.

Shevlin went tumbling under a challenge from Michael Hewitt inside the box with referee Niall Devlin immediately pointing to the penalty spot.

Patching stepped up to send McCarey the wrong way to set the seal on a fine individual performance and a team performance which underlines Coleraine's title credentials.

Coleraine head coach Ruaidhri Higgins: "I'm really pleased for the players. I thought from minute one they showed a real appetite and hunger for the three points.

"I thought we started the game exceptionally well and we could have been more in front at half-time.

"It was a really good performance so early in the season and away from home and I thought there were some exceptional individual performances as well: Will Patching put on a masterclass I thought, he was the best player on the pitch.

"We didn't give up any chances at all in the game and our lads dealt with everything. I'm really proud of the players and it was a good night for us.

"It's nice when you win on a Friday night - you can enjoy your weekend!"

Portadown head coach David Jeffrey: "Obviously we're disappointed with the result. There's no denying Coleraine are an extremely talented team and have a first-class squad.

"I can't fault the effort and the work rate of the players or their commitment, but the frustrating thing from our point of view is that the goals were preventable. They're being punished for elementary mistakes.

"But it's not doom and gloom. This is a new group of players that has been brought together.

"Of course we would have liked to have got something from the games thus far but not a chance in the world that heads are down."