On Saturday we make our first visit in eleven months to the Showgrounds to face Ballymena United in the Danske Bank Premiership.
Despite their progress to the Semi-Finals of the Irish Cup, Ballymena United’s recent league form has been less impressive; losing their last three IPL matches and recording only one win in their last eight.
Currently sitting in eighth place with just two games to go until the league split, the Braidmen look unlikely to overhaul the five-point gap their main rivals Coleraine currently hold over them in sixth place but will be determined to overtake seventh place Glenavon in the race to claim the final European play-off spot; Gary Hamilton’s side currently just two points better off.
Manager David Jeffrey will have to do without on loan Glens defender Mal Smith for this game, but is able to welcome back goalkeeper Sean O’Neill, who missed the 2-1 defeat at parent club Crusaders on Tuesday night, with the experienced custodian likely to return at the expense of ex-Ards and Dungannon keeper Sam Johnston.
Central defender Conor Keeley missed the game on Tuesday at Seaview, as did David Parkhouse after the ex-Derry City striker was substituted in the previous defeat at Portadown. Experienced duo Ross Redman and Paul McElroy will be hoping for recalls to the side after dropping to the bench in midweek.
Since January 2007, the Glens have experienced only two defeats in this fixture. Indeed, our last seventeen league visits to the Braidmen have seen an incredible eleven wins and four draws. Two of those draws were last season: in the first game in December 2020 Ballymena took a 66th minute lead through defender Ciaran Kelly and had looked set to record a rare home win over the Glens, but Captain Marcus Kane's well taken strike in stoppage time secured Mick McDermott's side a share of the points. In the return game in April 2021, a goal in each half from Seanan Clucas had looked set to give the Glens a comfortable win, only for Shay McCartan to reduce the arrears with a well-executed free kick with 12 minutes remaining and then our now record signing made the game all square when he converted a penalty with just 2 minutes left.
Our most recent win at the venue was in August 2019 when two typical late Robbie McDaid goals gave Glentoran the points after Andy McGrory had given United the lead. With skipper Marcus Kane still injured, only McDaid and Hrvoje Plum are likely to be in the squad of the players who played that day as all the others have subsequently left the club.
Mick McDermott: “I thought we deserved our win at Dungannon last Saturday. In the first half in particular we dominated possession, moved the ball well and created quite a few chances down both flanks. After the break they had changed a bit and had periods when they had good possession. But they didn’t cause us any problems so ultimately we were worth the important three points.
All our matches are cup finals at this stage of the season, so we’ve got another one at Ballymena on Saturday. They’re a hard team to play against and they’ve a very good home record. David has them well organised and they’ll raise their game because its Glentoran. So we’ll be up for it.”
Remember, tickets for this all-ticket game are available HERE.
