Wednesday 1st May
Kick Off 7.45pm
Tomorrow evening presents a final major opportunity for us to achieve something substantial from this season when Coleraine visit the Bet McLean Oval in the semi-final of the UEFA Europa Conference play offs.
Tomorrow night’s game is the first time these sides have met in the playoffs since their inaugural year of 2016.
Back then, the roles were reversed as 5th placed Coleraine enjoyed home advantage at Ballycastle Road over the 6th placed Glens. That night, the Glens forged ahead thanks to a first half goal by defender Callum Birney and took that lead into the half time break. In the second half, Alan Kernaghan’s men added a vital second goal on the hour, as striker Curtis Allen nodded home a Chris Lavery cross. Although Oran Kearney’s Coleraine side did set up a tense finale when Jamie McGonigle pulled a goal back with 4 minutes remaining, the Glens went through to face Cliftonville at Solitude in what was to prove a pulsating - but sadly - unsuccessful Final.
While Coleraine enjoyed marginally the better of the league results between the sides this season - picking up 2 wins and a draw from the 4 matches played - they will have painful memories of their last trip to the Oval in January; that day a David Fisher hat trick, a brace from Junior and a Bobby Burns strike just after the hour mark saw the Bannsiders on the end of a humbling 6-0 defeat.
Oran Kearney’s side come into the game on the back of a 5-0 defeat away to Champions Larne, their cause not helped by the dismissal of former Glentoran defender Darren Cole late in the first half when the score was poised at 1-0. Kearney rested a number of regular starters for that game and it is likely that Jamie Glackin, former Glentoran keeper Rory Brown and defenders Dean Jarvis and Lyndon Kane will come back into the side after being named as substitutes and top scorer Matthew Shevlin should also return after not playing in the last 2 games.
Declan Devine: “It was good to get a win on Saturday to take into these playoffs. Saturday was the squad’s 50th competitive game of the season so with this game happening tonight we took the opportunity against Crusaders to rest some first teamers and blood a lot of young players we hold in very high esteem and who have been impressing on the Seconds recent great run. They were a joy to watch and a great credit to the Glentoran Academy and the club’s scholarship scheme which is excellent. I know Crusaders also played a young side but we were well worth the good win we had.
It was great to see Kirk McLaughlin getting a couple of goals on his first start since coming back, James Douglas was very comfortable in midfield and Callan Farley – who’s been captain of the Seconds for the past few months - chipped in with a couple of assists and ended up with the captain’s armband at 18 years of age, so that was a proud moment for him and his family. It was also good to get Cameron Palmer and Josh Kelly their first start after injury. They were both excellent in midfield as was Charlie Lindsay whose performance fully justified his starting place. Ollie Webber also had his first start for a while and put in a very confident and professional performance. The key point here is that we have a lot of talent in our under-age teams and good young players will get their chance.
It goes without saying that tomorrow night is a very big game for us and European qualification is a very big prize. While I was disappointed at our performance last month at Coleraine, there wasn’t a lot between the 2 teams and the result really hung on 2 goals from a couple of individual errors from players who don’t normally make them. Coleraine are a good team who were on a decent run of form before the past couple of weeks so we need to be aware of that. But also our players need to go into this one knowing that they finished above Coleraine in the table and remember they had a very good win over them last time they visited the Oval a couple of months ago.
Most of our players successfully made it through the playoffs last season so they need to draw on that experience and give us one big push to end the season on a high note.
Tickets for this game can be purchased HERE.
IMPORTANT SUPPORTER NOTICES
- The Board of Directors remind supporters that under no circumstance is anyone permitted to bring flares, fireworks or any other sort of pyrotechnic equipment into the Bet McLean Oval at any time. These are highly dangerous to other supporters and potentially to players. Any breach of this rule will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Persons breaking this rule will receive a lifetime ban from the Bet McLean Oval and will be reported to the police.
- We strongly request that supporters respect the rights of the local residents by parking well away from housefronts in the immediate locality. There is plenty of available parking at the Holywood Arches Heath Centre.
