An incident packed second half at the Oval saw Glentoran drop their first League points of the season against a spirited Donegal Celtic side.  Jaimie McGovern replaced the injured Colin Nixon and Ciaran Martyn came in for his first domestic start of the season in place of Jim O’Hanlon, but the big team news of the day was the return from exile of Gary Hamilton who was given a place on the bench.

There was little improvement on last week’s second half showing against Dungannon during an opening 45 minutes in which only one save of any note had to be made.  Any threat that there was on the DC goal, aside from a few panicky clearances by the visiting defence, came from Stephen Carson both from set pieces and open play.  It was 25 minutes before any serious threat on goal, Carson’s left wing cross met with a first time volley from Darren Boyce which whistled just wide.  A couple of minutes later Carson had the best chance of the first half as he burst clear of the DC defence but goalkeeper Robert Robinson did well to save with his legs.

After the dull fare on offer in the first half the game sprang into life just 3 minutes after the re-start when Andy Waterworth’s cross from the right found an unmarked Darren Boyce.  He looked certain to grab his third goal in as many games but his effort was superbly turned away for a corner by Robinson.  The home side were enjoying the bulk of the possession but it was DC who took a shock lead on 54 minutes when Jonny Harkness curled a 20 yard free kick left footed round the wall and past the despairing dive of Elliott Morris.  Things were to get worse for the home side just three minutes later when a high and dangerous challenge in the centre circle by Johnny Taylor on DC’s Stephen McAlorum resulted in a melee involving a number of players.  Once the dust had settled it was no surprise when referee Raymond Hetherington issued a straight red card to Taylor.  From the resulting free kick the ball was played through to Darren Murray who found himself clear of the Glentoran defence; his initial close range effort was well saved by Morris but Murray was quickest to the rebound and he slotted home to double the DC lead.

The situation called for desperate measures and manager Scott Young immediately responded with a double substitution.  Strikers Andy Waterworth and Darren Boyce got the hook to be replaced by Richard Gibson and prodigal son Gary Hamilton and the move paid almost immediate dividends.  Just two minutes after they came on Hamilton dinked the ball through to Gibson who burst into the DC area only to be brought down by Paul Bradley for a clear cut penalty.  Inevitably Hamilton, making his 200th appearance for the Glens, grabbed the ball and coolly stroked home the spot kick to put the home side back in the contest.  However DC were making the most of their one man advantage with Murray continuing to cause the home defence problems, and on 69 minutes all looked lost for the Glens.  A poor attempted back pass from David Howland left Paul McVeigh clear in the Glentoran area, the DC veteran went down under a challenge from Elliott Morris and referee Hetherington awarded a spot kick on the advice of his assistant.  McVeigh himself took the kick but Morris redeemed himself by diving full length to push the ball round the post.

This reprieve seemed to give the Glens something of a fillip and for the rest of the contest the uneven numbers counted for little as they pushed forward in search of an equaliser.  DC were giving away a plethora of free kicks around their own area and Gary Hamilton had a couple of efforts from these comfortably dealt with.  In the 82nd minute another 20 yard free kick was this time taken by Jason Hill who curled it superbly into the top corner.  However the home celebrations were cut short when they spotted a linesman’s flag correctly raised for offside against Ciaran Martyn.  As in the first half Stephen Carson’s delivery of the ball was causing DC any number of problems and twice in the closing minutes he came within a whisker of creating an equaliser.  With 5 minutes left, and even Elliott Morris joining the attack, his corner from the right carried to the far post where Sean Ward’s volley came off the cross bar and on 90 minutes his cross to Richard Gibson saw the big striker’s looping header again come off the woodwork.  The six additional minutes signalled by the fourth official gave the home support some hope, but it wasn’t to be and the DC defence held out for a deserved victory.  So a poor home performance for the second week in a row but this time no points to show for it, and much work to be done if we are to come away with anything from the visit to champions Linfield next Saturday.

Glentoran
Elliott Morris, Jaimie McGovern, Johnny Taylor, Sean Ward, Jason Hill, Richard Clarke (sub Jim O’Hanlon 45 mins), David Howland, Ciaran Martyn, Stephen Carson, Andy Waterworth (sub Richard Gibson 60 minutes), Darren Boyce (sub Gary Hamilton 60 mins)

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