The Glens move safely through to the next round of the Bet McClean Cup this evening. A nearly completely rotated home side often found the resilient away side a tough nut to crack, but two moments of real quality either side of the break ultimately settled the tie.
Fuad Sule captained the side in the defensive midfield role, but changes were the order of the night for the starting line-up. Andrew Mills came into the net for his first home start, with Lyons-Foster, Russell, and Amos in his defence. Parfitt, Lindsay, Thorndike, and
Donnelly made up the midfield, with Wassim given an opportunity to play up front as Jenkins and Fisher moved to the bench.
Dergview sent early warning shots that they were not in East Belfast to simply make up the numbers by creating the game’s first chance. An excellent two-touch move eventually ensured a free man on the overlap, producing a credible long-range shot that warmed the gloves of Andrew Mills. However, it wouldn’t take the Glens long to open the scoring in the ninth minute, with Charlie Lindsay – who was excellent all evening – producing the game’s first real moment of quality. An excellent long ball by Danny Amos from inside our own half set the young
number twenty-one clear in a one-on-one showdown. With composure that belies his youth, Charlie coolly slotted the ball into the left hand corner.
The home side worked hard in the aftermath to force a second that would have made the contest more comfortable. A long mazy run from Finlay Thorndike in the twelfth minute was unfortunately not matched by quality of shot, with his effort flashing wide of the post. Later
in the half, a corner ball from Danny Amos was met by Lyons-Foster, who was unlucky to see his headed effort flash past the post. In the pick of the first half chances, an excellent cross ball from Lyons-Foster found Jay Donnelly on the penalty spot. However – in perhaps
the story of the first half – the striker failed to apply the clinical final touch. The teams trudged up the tunnel with the game still in the balance and only separated by a moment of Lindsay magic.
Half time: Glentoran 1 Dergview 0
Declan Devine took the half time interval as an opportunity to inject some first-team experience, with James Douglas and Jordan Jenkins replacing both Thorndike and Wassim respectively. However, much like the first half – it was Dergview who began to set the early tempo. A
fizzing long range effort flew just past Mills’ left hand post directly from kick off. Indeed, moments later, the away side continued to show heart and endeavour by carving out a well- worked move that was eventually forced behind by Sule for a corner. However, Glentoran slowly grew into the half to assert more dominance. Jordan Jenkins rounded the goalkeeper shortly before the hour, with only a fine tackle preventing a clear goal. Moments later, an excellent cross ball from the wide left from Amos met Donnelly’s forehead, who saw his header glance just wide. As the pendulum continued to swing towards the home side, Devine forced the agenda from the bench to inject both David Fisher and James Singleton into the field of play for the final twenty five minutes. Jay Donnelly and Charlie Lindsay were both respectively given the appreciation their performances deserved as they moved towards the home bench.
The subs almost immediately made a lasting impact, with James Singleton winning the ball back on the wide left with his first touch, and swinging a superb cross for Parfitt to chase within the six-yard box. Unfortunately however, he hit his low drive straight at the goalkeeper. Fisher and Singleton then duly combined to attempt the super-sub act with fifteen to play; an excellent passing moving between the two releasing Jenkins inside the box, who was unfortunate to see his first time shot fly wide. Danny Amos would leave the pitch shortly after, to be replaced by Frankie Hvid with ten to play to ensure defensive security. However, for all the home side’s pressure, it was Dergview who almost produced a final twist with just seconds left on the clock. An excellent team move produced a final shot
which Andrew Mills could only parry, with the rebound nestled into the net from six yards. The away side’s bench was only silenced in their wild celebrations by a late – but correct – offside flag to kill the late drama. And in the dying moments of injury time, David Fisher would pour salt onto the away side’s wounds to remove any final doubt about the tie with an excellent second of the night for Glentoran. An intricate through ball from Sule in the centre of the midfield set the striker away in a one-on-one not dissimilar to the first goal. Using all his experience, Fisher made no mistake to roll the ball into the right hand corner to reward the Glens supporters just before the final whistle.
A much-rotated Glentoran side can be pleased to ensure their passage into the next round of the Bet McClean Cup. All eyes can now turn to the eagerly awaited first derby of the season on Friday night as we travel to Windsor Park.
Photographs courtest of Presseye.
Glentoran: Mills, Lyons-Foster, Russell, Amos (Hvid 83) , Murphy, Sule (c), Thorndike (Douglas 46), Parfitt, Lindsay (Singleton 67), Wassim (Jenkins 46) and Donnelly ( Fisher 67)
Subs (Not used): Gyollai, Farley
