Saturday 6th November
3pm Kick Off
On Saturday we enter the second round of Danske Bank Premiership fixtures with the season's first visit to the Bet McLean Oval by Warrenpoint Town.
Despite an encouraging 2-1 opening day home win over Ballymena, Warrenpoint Town have been on a wretched run since; losing their last nine league games in succession and scoring just five goals in the process, conceding twenty-six. One of those defeats was, of course, 3-0 at the hands of Glentoran thanks to a Jay Donnelly hat trick at Milltown in mid-September.
A slow start is not unusual for ‘Point, as they lost all of their first six games of 2018/19 and took just three points from their opening ten games (losing the first eight in a row) of the next campaign. It should be noted, though, that Barry Gray’s men went on to survive comfortably in each of the last four seasons, since earning instant promotion back to the IPL after relegation in 2016. So they should not be taken lightly, simply because of their current position.
Defender Dano Byrne was sent off in Saturday’s home defeat against Crusaders, but forward Alan O’Sullivan ended his barren start to the league campaign with a goal either side of half time and should be in line to start this game after being restricted to a sub role for most of the season to date. At the other end of the pitch, our popular former defender Gavin Peers will hope to continue in the side after earning a recall against the Crues.
Mick McDermott:” At Larne on Tuesday night we defended very well in the first half, then came into it a lot more after we made some changes in the final third of the match. Caolan felt his hamstring a bit, so we took him off as a precaution and had to shuffle things round a bit. Rory and Ben Cushnie both had a very positive impact on the game and Mal Smith did superbly at right back and again showed us exactly what he’s capable of when he came on for a decent run out. Then of course Jay continued his excellent run of recent form with his goal. I’d obviously have preferred the win on Tuesday night but was pleased with how we came back into it after losing the opening goal. The fans got really well behind us at both Carrick and Larne and that’s been greatly appreciated by everyone.
I’m pleased to welcome Barry Gray and Warrenpoint Town to the Bet McLean Oval. We had a comfortable win at Milltown a few weeks ago but won’t be taking anything for granted today as they always give a very good account of themselves when they visit here. I also know they’ve changed how they’ve set up recently so as usual the players know they need to be fully focussed on getting the three points.
As this is the home game before Armistice Day, before Saturday’s match the club will hold a Display of Remembrance on the pitch at 2.50pm. Details of the event will be published here before kick-off, along with details of the club’s official Remembrance Day service on Armistice Day, Thursday 11th November
Tomorrow's match will be streamed live by GlensTV with Performa Sports for those unable to make it to the Bet McLean Oval.
The stream will cost £10 and will be available online at the following site:
https://www.performatv.com/game/glentoran-vs-warrenpoint-town-06-11-21
As always at home matches, we strongly request that supporters respect the rights of the local residents by parking well away from housefronts in the immediate locality. There is plenty of available parking at the Holywood Arches Heath Centre.
Saturday’s match sponsor is Nicdar Tiles - Your local East Belfast Tile showroom. Top quality Tiles for home or business with all budgets covered
Nicdar Tiles Ltd
Unit 14 Hanwood Business Park
Dundonald
Belfast BT16 1DE
Contract Tel: 07508470375 email: dlmtiling@gmail.com
Showroom Tel: 02890 483700 email: info@nicdartiles.shop
Twitter: @TilesLtd and @DLMTiling
Instagram: @nicdartiles14
Facebook: Nicdar Tiles & DLM Tiling Contracts