Glentoran return to league action on Saturday with an away trip to Ards in the Danske Bank Premiership.
As Glentoran begin their search for a new manager Director of Football, Roy Coyle, will be back in charge for this fixture. Roy will be assisted for this game at his request by Tiernan & Seamus Lynch, pending the appointment of a permanent manager. Since their opening day victory against Dungannon Swifts the Glens have been on a dismal run with just one victory (v Portadown) and four defeats in their last five outings, including the disappointing exit from the League Cup at the hands of Annagh United.
Newly promoted Ards have been flying high so far this season and under 'Manager of the Month' Niall Currie, currently occupy 3rd spot in the Danske Bank Premiership with ten points from six games. The Glens, having played a game less, are in 9th place with just six points from five games.
2013-14 was the last season when the two clubs met in the league and in the 3 meetings there was one win each and a draw. The Glens smashed 5 past Ards in early September 2013 with David Scullion, Calum Birney, Richard Clarke, Jordan Hughes and Niall Henderson all finding the net. Just prior to Christmas the sides played out a dull scoreless draw and then in mid February 2014 Ards, who were at that stage occupying bottom place in the Premiership, rocked the Glens with a 2-1 win at Clandeboye Park.
The only other two competitive meetings since then both came in the Irish Cup. The Glens won 2-nil at the Oval in January 2015 on their way to winning the Irish Cup and a year later, again at the Oval, the Glens progressed in the cup thanks to a 4-1 win with a goal from Jay Magee and a hat-trick from Chris Lavery. A similar performance on Saturday would be very welcome for the Glentoran fans.