Cricky Gallagher has been voted the Glentoran Player of The Month for December, the second month in a row the 20-year old midfielder has won the supporters’’ vote.
In a month where the Glens were unbeaten despite playing all four of other top teams in the Danske Bank Premiership, Cricky won 28% of the vote in what was very much a two horse race with Navid Nasseri on 23%.
Cricky said when told of his win after our victory at Dungannon: “I’m over the moon to win Player of the Month for the second month in a row. December has been an excellent month and we’ve picked up great results which has put us in a great position going into January.
I want to say a big thank you to Mick and Paul for showing their faith and belief in me over the past two months and I’m glad that I’ve been able to repay that belief shown with some good performances.
Lastly, a big shout out to the fans who have got behind me and the team. We all appreciate it and hope we have given you all something to smile about again! Let’s keep the momentum going”.
Mick McDermott said of the vote: “This is totally deserved for Cricky. He’s worked very hard and made himself a very important player for us. He’s played a very central role in our recent run of strong performances and it’s our intention to make sure he becomes a very important player for Glentoran for quite a few years, given that he’s only twenty. As I said when he won this award last month, Cricky was frustrated and disappointed when he wasn’t starting regularly at the start of the season. But he did what every good, committed player should do. He worked hard, trained hard and well, and really took his chance when it came at the start of October. Totally the right approach and it has paid off both for Cricky and the team.”
Matthew Carson wins U20s December Award
Glentoran Under 20 Player of the Month for December is Matthew Carson.
U20s Manager David Lowry said of Matthew’s award: “Matthew has been a regular and dependable servant to the 20s since the tail end of last season when making his debut aged 14 in a friendly against Harland and Wolf Welders and man marking Davy Rainey, who won League titles with both the Glens and Crusaders during a long career at the top level..
This season Matthew has shown his class consistently and he has enjoyed a very good December with an accomplished performance against Steven Garrett against Cliftonville at Dundela. Matthew then showed his character after having a tough first half against Cliftonville at Solitude in the Intermediate Cup he responded well and had a superb second half.
He earned his team three points at Seaview with a world class stoppage time goal saving tackle before scoring Glentoran’s third equaliser on the way to a 4-3 at Ballymena at the end of the month.
During December Matthew also received an offer of a scholarship starting next season at Southampton”.
Well done Matthew.