Saturday 29th January
3.00pm Kick Off
On Saturday Warrenpoint Town make their second visit to the Bet McLean Oval for our third Danske Bank Premiership meeting of the season.
Despite an encouraging opening day home victory against Ballymena United back in August, Warrenpoint Town have since endured their most difficult IPL season to date; in the 22 games following that win over the Sky Blues, they have picked up just 1 further win (and 5 further points) and find themselves anchored to the bottom of the table, 5 points adrift of Portadown and with a 14 point gap to 10th place Dungannon.
Manager Barry Gray has been busy in the January transfer window in an effort to at least avoid the automatic relegation spot, most notably signing our own Ciaran O’Connor on loan for the rest of the campaign. The rest of Gray’s signings have been gleamed from the League of Ireland; winger Adam Wixted, defender Dylan Hand and midfielder Daniel McKenna all arriving from First Division Athlone Town. With just seventeen goals from twenty-two games, Warrenpoint are the lowest scorers in the league, with only Dungannon Swifts having conceded more goals.
Despite the signings, little has changed so far in terms of results; Saturday’s 0-3 reverse to Larne was a fifth defeat in a row in all competitions and an 11th game without a win. On a cautionary note, however, they did recently frustrate leaders Linfield in a 1-1 draw at The National Stadium and were unfortunate to lose on their last visit to the Oval in early November, when Thomas Maguire’s second half goal threatened to bring ‘point back into a game that ended in a closely contested 2-1 win for the Glens.
Mick McDermott: “Tuesday was another great win over one of the league’s top sides, but really I’d have been even happier if we’d managed to kill the game off while we were well on top in the first half. I thought we controlled the entire first half, but we should have turned that into more scoring chances. A second goal for us before half time after Michael’s got the opener and I think the second half would have been a very different affair. Even when it was one all and late on, I still felt we’d create at least one good goalscoring opportunity, as we’ve got players capable of pushing for late chances. I felt that free kick could be vital as Hrvoje’s deliveries were brilliant all night and he put that one in exactly the right place for us.
I need to pay tribute to the boys for the last few performances. We had to play three of the league’s top teams in just eight days and that’s a mammoth task for any group of players. Plus we’ve had key players not available to us at different stages of that run and bedded two new players into the team in high pressure situations. Sean and Michael have both done very well in their first couple of weeks in the squad and are also both off the goalscoring mark for the club. But all the players have shown over the past few months that they have the character and resilience necessary for a title race and I’ve been proud of their performances and results.
Now on to face Warrenpoint Town. It’s always a pleasure to welcome Barry Gray and his players to the Bet McLean Oval. I know they’re not in a great league position, but they gave us a tough game and a very nervy last twenty minutes last time they were here in November. So we have a lot of respect for them. We’re now working with a full squad, apart from long term absentees Luke McCullough. Marcus was on the bench on Tuesday night, his first time in the squad since picking up his injury four months ago. Sean and Michael are still working up to full match fitness and Darren Cole will soon be ready. So we have some momentum behind us, and we’ll work very hard on Saturday to continue that.”
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.
