Glentoran’s hopes of securing a second piece of silverware this season were dashed as they fell to a 1-0 extra-time defeat against Cliftonville in the BetMcLean Cup Final.
Substitute Joe Gormley proved to be the match-winner, striking in the 99th minute to deny Declan Devine’s side the chance to add to their Co Antrim Shield triumph earlier in the campaign.
Under glorious sunshine in Belfast, the record-breaking crowd was treated to a lively opening exchange, with both teams showing attacking intent from the outset.
Declan Devine’s men carved out the first opportunity after just six minutes, as Kodi Lyons-Foster latched onto Fuad Sule’s inviting cross at the back post, but he could only fire over the crossbar.
Cliftonville soon grew into the contest, and on 26 minutes, Ryan Curran found himself in a promising position after latching onto a clever through-ball, but Daniel Gyollai reacted swiftly, bravely smothering at his feet to end the danger.
Curran spurned another golden opportunity moments later, as his close-range effort was brilliantly blocked by Aaron Wightman, just as the striker looked certain to find the net.
Daniel Gyollai was once more called into action on the stroke of halftime, as the ever-impressive Hungarian produced a smart reflex save to deny Alex Parsons and keep the scores level heading into the break.
Half-Time: Glentoran 0 – 0 Cliftonville
Glentoran started the second half on the front foot and came close to breaking the deadlock with two big chances before the hour mark.
First, David Fisher pounced on a mistake from Jack Keaney and found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Lewis Ridd, but his finish allowed Ridd to make a comfortable save.
Ridd the produced a superb reflex stop with his feet, denying Jordan Jenkins what looked to be the breakthrough goal.
With just five minutes of normal time remaining, Gyollai was once again the hero for the Glens, producing a magnificent fingertip save to brilliantly tip Joe Gormley’s goal-bound header over the crossbar, keeping the Glens’ hopes alive as the game edged towards extra time.
Full-Time: Glentoran 0 – 0 Cliftonville
Nine minutes into extra time, Gormley struck what proved to be the winning goal, squeezing the ball past Gyollai at the near post after being teed up by fellow substitute Ryan Corrigan.
Jonathan Russell had a late chance to take the game to penalties, but he couldn’t keep his effort down, sending his shot over the crossbar as Cliftonville held on to secure League Cup glory.
After Extra-Time: Glentoran 0 – 1 Cliftonville
