Glentoran lost out to Larne in the cruelest of circumstances as Jonny Russell's unfortunate own goal with virtually the last kick gave the Premiership champions all three points at the Oval this evening. Declan Devine made a number of changes from Saturday's defeat at Coleraine with Harry Murphy, Marcus Kane, Seanan Clucas and Shay McCartan all returning to the starting XI.
Tuesday 16th April
Kick Off 7.45pm
Tomorrow night we face Larne for the fifth and final time this season as the reigning Sports Direct Premiership champions visit the Bet McLean Oval.
Beth Stafford’s graphic of Jonny Russell, David Fisher and Junior fronts Tuesday night’s 40-page Glentoran Gazette in which Paul Leeman talks to Matthew Brown about the team’s future. Manager Declan Devine talks about the here and now saying that, after a bright opening on Saturday, the performance wasn’t good enough and he expects a lot better in the fight to finish fourth in the league, while we profile a Larne side that has turned into a machine under former Glens coach Tiernan Lynch.
Glentoran Women put down a major statement of intent with this emphatic home victory in the first domestic game of the 2024 season in the quarter final of the Women’s Premiership League Cup.
It was international striker Emily Wilson, just back from injury, who led the way with a hat trick, including goals in the 10th and 22nd minutes when she started the scoring by capitalising on mistakes in the Derry defence. In between those goals Derry’s was sent off for 2 very early yellow cards.
Two pieces of catastrophic defending and some profligacy in front of goal cost the Glens all 3 points at the Showgrounds this afternoon as we failed to capitalise on Crusaders’ home defeat last night. So we remain in fifth place with three games to go before the playoffs.
Declan Devine made two changes to last week’s starting line up with Bobby Burns replacing the suspended Seanan Clucas in midfield and Niall McGinn preferred to Jay Donnelly in attack. Daire O’Connor returned to the bench after an injury as did Harry Murphy, replacing Aidan Wilson.
Congratulations to the five Glentoran players who played for Northern Ireland U18 Schoolboys in the final of this year’s Centenary Shield as the unbeaten NI side defeated Wales 2-1 at Blanchflower Stadium to secure the title on Thursday night.
Glentoran Women start the 2024 domestic season on Monday next (15th April) when Derry City visit in the Quarter Final of the NIFL Women’s Premiership League Cup (KO 8.00pm).
Saturday 13th April
Kick Off 3.00pm
Four Sports Direct Premiership games to go before the playoffs as we travel to the Coleraine Showgrounds on Saturday.
Coleraine come into this fixture on a run of 1 defeat in their last 8 league matches, though they have drawn the last 4 in a row. The most recent was last Saturday’s 2-2 home deadlock with Cliftonville in which they overturned a 2-goal half time deficit.
Congratulations to our striker Rachel McIntyre who scored a hat trick in the first half of Northern Ireland Under 19s 5-0 win over Georgia in Tiblisi in the WU19 Euro 2024 Qualifiers. Rachel’s Glens team mate Kascie Weir scored Northern Ireland’s fourth in the comprehensive win. Our new signings Sofie Keenan and Aimee Kerr were also in the starting lineup.
All four girls also started in the side’s 0-0 draw with Kazakhstan in the same round of qualifiers. Two more Glentoran players – Sarah Tweedie and Megan Neill – joined the starting lineup with Sarah captaining the side.
A fiercely contested Big Two derby at the Bet McClean Oval finished scoreless this evening. After the disappointment of last week’s Irish Cup semi-final defeat, the team deserve credit for producing a battling performance full of desire across the pitch.
