Lewis Toshney and Toshney started again. However, after Liam Kelly received a red card, the match turned out badly for Kilmarnock who went on to concede four goals. Toshney missed Kilmarnock's next two matches due to a groin strain. After his return, manager Kenny Shiels was unsure whether to put him back on the team because he would be ineligible for the subsequent match, which was the 2012 Scottish League Cup Final, against parent club Celtic. Shiels did decide to start Toshney in the match, which was a 1–1 draw against Inverness CT Kimarnock went on to win the League Cup by
Kenny Shiels Securely in charge, Shiels led the club to an 8–0 drubbing of Newry Town in the next match, the second of what proved to be a twenty match unbeaten league run. With his younger brother Sammy Shiels, who had played under Kenny Shiels' management at Carrick, leading the line in scoring 25 league goals, Coleraine won the title, and thus promotion, a full fifteen points ahead of runners-up Ballymena United. The club would also win the inaugural Irish News Cup, a competition for Irish League and League of Ireland clubs in North-West Ireland, that same season. The following season began