| One
half of the CIS Insurance Cup Final was decided
tonight, unfortunately Glentoran will not be
defending the CIS Insurance Cup title on December
8th.
A single goal
divided the teams as Crusaders took victory and
provided Glentoran's first defeat since Manchester
United visited The Oval this past summer.
Former Glentoran
player David Rainey showed his class on 45 minutes
as he popped up in the box to out-jump Paul Leeman
and head past Elliot Morris, taking Crusaders into
the final
The match began
brightly for Glentoran as they played a classy brand
of passing, flowing football. While Crusaders
were not getting much time on the ball, the times
they did were quickly shut down by the Glentoran
midfield.
While having more
of the possession and play, goal scoring
opportunities simply would not cross the line.
The first opportunity fell to Daryl Fordyce on 18
minutes as Michael Halliday and Ryan Berry carved
out an attack. Fordyce struck low and hard,
but the goalkeeper was equal to the challenge and
saved well. Just a minute later, a David
Scullion cross found Gary Hamilton who touched to
Halliday who struck over the bar on the volley.
Hamilton had his
first real chance of the game on 24 minutes when
Scullion's cross was headed just wide of the
post. Halliday continued the pressure with a
left foot shot, but again the goalkeeper saved.
With the constant
pressure for much of the first half, Crusaders
managed to ride the storm and mount an attack on
goal. David Rainey's clever break through the
middle would pay dividends as a left-sided cross
found him in the Glentoran 18 yard box to head past
Morris with what was Crusaders' first shot on
target.
With only seconds
left of the first half, there was little time for
Glentoran to mount an attack before the break.
The second half,
while being a more open affair, saw few chances
being created by either side. Alan
McDonald brought Dean Fitzgerald into play allowing
David Scullion to roam across the 5-man midfield.
Very quickly, the
game became a frantic chase for an equaliser.
The introduction of Tim McCann and BJ McMenamin
forced the Glens forward but while seeing plenty of
the ball, few goal scoring opportunities
arose.
As the game neared
it's end almost every Glentoran player was in the
Crusaders goal area with wave after wave of
attack. Tim McCann provided four or five
quality crosses into the box, but Crues goalkeeper
Hogg was letting nothing through.
A true battle of a
game ended in defeat for the Glens, but a spirited
first half performance and constant 2nd half
pressure was unable to break down a solid Crues
defence.
|
