Glentoran Football Club - FK Renova 2-1 Glentoran

FK Renova 2-1 Glentoran

Published on Thursday, 30 June 2011 21:48

There was a sense of frustration amongst the Glentoran squad following their narrow 2-1 defeat in the ‘National Arena Philip II of Macedonia’ in Skopje on Thursday evening. FK Renova started the game well and on 5 minutes Muharen Bajrami (5) had a cross-shot which flashed just past the far post. The Macedonian side were awarded a corner (9) and almost caught out the Glentoran defence but Bajrami’s cross was cleared. Disaster struck with just 11 minutes on the clock. A through ball put Nuhi clear and with Nixon slipping, Jaimie McGovern had to come across to make a challenge. Although the Glentoran player seemed to get a touch on the ball on the edge of the area the Polish referee pointed to the spot and awarded Renova a penalty. To make matters worse McGovern was dismissed with skipper, Colin Nixon also picking up a yellow card for protesting. The Renova number 20, Boban Jancevski stepped up and beat Elliott Morris (14). Manager, Scott Young was then forced to change his formation, moving Johnny Taylor from his defensive midfield position to right back with Boyce and O’Hanlon dropping into midfield thus leaving Andy Waterworth to play a lone role up front.

The game then went through a pretty uneventful until the 30 minute mark, Glentoran restricting Renova to a few long range efforts. On the half hour Clarke and Boyce linked up well on the right and forced a corner. Moments later Boyce put Waterworth clear with an excellent through ball but the Renova keeper Eljezi got there just ahead of him and cleared the danger. On 35 minutes a Jason Hill effort was turned away for a corner by Eljezi. 3 minutes before the break an excellent pass from Jim O’Hanlon released Darren Boyce. As he approached the penalty area he was body checked however the officials allowed play to continue. In first half stoppage time Sean Ward broke out of defence and fed Boyce. His shot was deflected, wrong-footing the keeper but the ball spun agonizingly wide of the far post. Kyle Cherry took the resulting corner, the ball eventually being half cleared to Richard Clarke. Clarke’s cross to the back post was headed back across goal by Johnny Taylor and Colin Nixon nodded home from close range.

Thing nearly got even better for the Glens in the opening minute of the second half. Andy Waterworth appeared to be fouled inside the area but the referee waved play on and actually booked him for diving! On 48 minutes another good move from the Glens saw Waterworth link with Jim O’Hanlon. O’Hanlon’s shot from a narrow angle was well saved by the keeper. Despite playing with 10 men, Glentoran continued to deal with most of the Renova attacks; Morris not really being tested in the Glentoran goal. The keeper did however pick up a yellow card for time wasting (62) and that was to prove costly later. A Darren Boyce effort was spilled by Eljezi (64) but unfortunately no one was on hand to take advantage. A superb pass from Kyle Cherry gave Andy Waterworth a great chance to put the Glens in front but the big striker was again denied by the keeper. Cherry latched onto the rebound but his effort went agonisingly wide. Martin Murray, who’d replaced O’Hanlon (56) was cautioned for a foul on 69 minutes. Elliott Morris made a superb stop to deny Gashi (83) but with just 3 minutes remaining the home side went in front in controversial circumstances. The visiting defence, convinced that an offence had been committed and having heard the referee ‘buzzed’ by his assistant on the near side, hesitated and Bajrami put the ball in the net. The goal was awarded and the Glentoran players were furious. Richard Clarke received a yellow card and Elliott Morris then received his second of the game for kicking the ball away. With all three substitutes having been made, Darren Boyce took over in goals but the nine men held out for the remaining time (which included 5 minutes added time).

Whilst it was a disappointing outcome there were plenty of positives to be taken from the game, not least the excellent work rate of the players having gone a man down so early on. The young players too did extremely well on what was their European debuts. All to play for then in the second leg at the Oval next Thursday night.

Glentoran Team: Morris, McGovern, Hill, Ward, Nixon (capt), Taylor, Clarke, Cherry, O’Hanlon, Boyce & Waterworth.

Subs: Murray for O’Hanlon (56), McGuigan for Cherry (80) & Gibson for Waterworth (86). Not used: Hogg, Burrows & Beggs.