Saturday 2nd January 2021, Kick Off 5.30pm
Glentoran will look to begin 2021 with a win against promoted Portadown, as Irish League football resumes after the Christmas period lockdown.
The most recent meeting between the sides will be fresh in the minds of many Glens fans, as it was the first tie of our run to winning the Irish Cup last season. The Championship leaders had arrived at the Oval as underdogs but silenced the large home crowd when striker Lee Bonis nodded them into a 1-0 lead just before half time. The Ports dug in and frustrated the home side right up until injury time, when sub Johnny Frazer burst into the box and was bundled over by defender Paul Finnigan. The referee pointed to the spot and midfielder Hrvoje Plum stepped up to send Edwards the wrong way and take the relieved Glens into extra time. The additional period began with a similar flurry of excitement as normal time had ended - Liam McKenna headed Portadown back into the lead a minute after the restart, only for Johnny Frazer to restore parity a minute later as he sneaked the ball home at the back post. After that, the tie drifted into an eventual penalty shootout, where Gavin Peers slotted home a sudden death winner after each side had taken 8 spot kicks.
With Portadown having only returned to the IPL this season after a 3-year absence, this will be the first league meeting at the Oval between the sides since April 2017. In a largely irrelevant end of season bottom 6 affair, a Glentoran side that would eventually finish in a hugely disappointing 9th place easily overcome the already relegated Ports by 3-0. Curtis Allen scored a goal in each half and midfielder Eric Foley added the other a minute before half time.
Life back in the top flight has proved difficult so far for Matthew Tipton's side, currently sitting in 10th place in the table. An impressive opening day 4-2 win at Mourneview Park against local rivals Glenavon offered hope to Ports fans that they might adapt quickly to the step up from the Championship, but just one further win has been achieved in the 8 games that have followed. In their last league fixture they were beaten heavily, losing 5-0 to Crusaders at Seaview.
Former Linfield player Aaron Burns recently announced his retirement and manager Tipton has brought Ben Tilney in on loan from Larne to replace him. Tilney may come into contention for his debut, while Tipton will also be hoping that striker Stephen Murray recovers from injury in time to be available. However Paddy McNally, Ben Guy and Callum McVeigh are on the long-term absentee list.
Mick McDermott: “I’m looking forward to getting back to football tomorrow, after another unexpected break. Looking forward to getting back to football. Obviously, I’m disappointed not to have our fans there to get behind the team, but such are the times we are in. Hopefully it won’t be long before we have plenty of Glentoran supporters in the Oval, making plenty of noise.
We have a full-strength squad available apart from Andrew Mitchell who is currently recovering from a niggling injury he’s been carrying for a few weeks.
As with every game in the Irish League, we expect a tough game against Portadown. I’m well aware that there is a big history between the two clubs and everyone at Glentoran is glad to see them back in the League. Matthew has done a good job since taking over.”
There will be no Glentoran live stream of tomorrow’s match, as it will be on the BBC Sport NI website here.
