Declan Devine admitted Glentoran let their supporters down after falling to a 2-1 defeat against Linfield in the season’s first Big Two derby.

Darragh Leahy headed the hosts in front after 18 minutes at the Clearer Twist National Stadium before Kirk Millar doubled their advantage with 13 minutes remaining.

Jordan Stewart pulled a goal back in stoppage time but was subsequently shown a red card as the Glens suffered their first defeat of the 2026/27 Irish Premiership campaign.

Devine accepted responsibility for the result and acknowledged that his side had fallen well short of the standards required in a fixture of such significance.

“It was really disappointing and completely unacceptable,” said the Glentoran manager.

“I picked the team and I picked the players, so that sits with me. What we had planned and worked on all week never came to fruition.

“The biggest disappointment was that we were out-battled. You cannot come into a Big Two game and not win those battles.

“When we had the ball, we played backwards far too often. We encouraged Linfield to come after us with their press, we moved the ball too slowly and never really got a grip of the game.

“We felt there was a big decision in the opening minutes when we should have had a penalty, but that is not an excuse.

“We were outperformed, we were outworked and we played nowhere near the levels we are capable of reaching.”

The Glens arrived at Windsor Park on the back of an opening-day victory over Limavady United, but Devine was frustrated by the lack of aggression and physicality in his side’s performance.

“I was really disappointed with our aggression, how we competed for first and second balls and the lack of physicality in our performance,” he continued.

“I did not expect that. There is a lot of talent in this group and it is important that we keep everyone together, but I expected more from myself, the staff and the players.

“We let our supporters down and that is the most disappointing thing because we know exactly what these games mean.

“It is more than three points. It is about pride and bragging rights for our supporters. I am disappointed and angry, but ultimately we have to break the game down and understand why we were so poor.”

Glentoran were without several senior players for the derby, including Pat Hoban, who sustained a calf injury during last weekend’s victory over Limavady.

Devine refused to use those absences as an excuse and maintained that the players selected were capable of producing a much stronger performance.

“We were missing seven players, but there are no excuses,” he said.

“Every player who was out there is someone I either brought to the Club or kept at the Club. You build a squad knowing that, if players are unavailable, others must be ready to step in and perform at the same level.

“I believe we have that strength, but collectively today was completely unacceptable.”

Devine confirmed that Hoban is expected to be sidelined only briefly, while goalkeeping coach and Club legend Elliott Morris was named among the substitutes as Andrew Mills remained unavailable.

“Pat tweaked his calf against Limavady and I am hopeful he will only miss a couple of games,” he explained.

“Andrew should only be out for a couple of weeks, so bringing in another goalkeeper could soon leave us with three senior goalkeepers and only two able to be included in the matchday squad.

“Fair play to Elliott for stepping in.”

Devine and his players will now review the defeat before turning their attention to the next fixture, with the manager demanding an honest assessment and a determined response.

“We came here in a really positive frame of mind, which makes the manner of the performance absolutely gut-wrenching,” he added.

“We will discuss it openly and honestly on Monday morning because we need to show a lot more moving forward.

“We have to take responsibility, learn from it and make sure it does not happen again.”