The profligacy in front of goal that nearly cost us at the Blanchflower on Tuesday was repeated today at Stangmore Park and cost us all three points in the Sports Direct Premiership.
This flaw was evident from the first ten minutes as good early crosses and Dylan Connolly came to nothing and as Jordan Jenkins was put through on his own but his shot didn’t seriously trouble Swifts’ keeper Declan Dunne. This was followed by a few good chances for Swifts with one over the bar, a steven Scott effort deflected over the bar and another good effort from Scott well saved by Daniel Gyollai.
Glens were still pretty dominant at this stage but on the half hour new boy Kodi Lyons-Foster was guilty of a very bad miss after a great head on from Frankie Hvid. Five minutes later it was David Fisher’s turn to have his head in his hands after good work by Danny Amos and Jordan Jenkins.
The eventual winner came five minutes before the break when John McGovern was sent clear to run the length of the Glens’ half, hold off the attentions of Frankie Hvid and give Daniel Gyollai no chance with his close-range effort.
The Glens still maintained the first half pressure when chances for Connolly and Douglas were created but not converted, but Swifts retained their lead into the break.
Half Time: Dungannon Swifts 1-0 Glentoran
Skipper Marcus Kane and Cameron Palmer were introduced at half time in place of Kodi Lyons-Foster and James Singleton and Moko was called into action not long afterwards when he made a great defensive block to deny McGovern a second goal.
The second half was more even than the first with both sides spurning goalscoring opportunities. For the Glens, David Fisher broke through but shot wide from a good position and Wassim Aouachria (a 64th minute sub for James Douglas) headed just wide. In return McGovern had another good headed effort saved by Gyollai, former Glens midfielder James Knowles shot just wide and with eight minutes to go Gyollai made another important save, this time from Kealon Dillon.
Paddy McClean headed just wide on 87 minutes to go but frankly an equaliser just didn’t look like coming and the game fizzled out as a home win.
So a disappointing day, especially following last week’s win over Cliftonville and an opportunity to go second in the table spurned. There are a lot of positives in this newly assembled squad but the forwards need to find their scoring boots if the progress shown so far is to be built on over the next few weeks.
Full Time: Dungannon Swifts 1-0 Glentoran
NB: Before today’s game the teams and supporters of both teams stood for a respectful minute’s silence for IFA and FIFA referee Keith Kennedy who sadly died earlier this week. Deepest condolences to Keith’s family and friends on their sudden and tragic loss.
Glentoran: Gyollai, Lyons-Foster (Kane 46), Amos, Hvid McClean, Sule (c) Singleton (Palmer 46), Douglas (Wassim 64), Connolly (Thorndike 75 ), Fisher and Jenkins
Subs (Not used): Mills, Murphy, Lindsay
