Tuesday 28 November 2023
Kick Off 7.45pm
Tomorrow evening we face Carrick Rangers for the third time this season when we travel to the Loughview Leisure Arena in the semi-final of the Toal’s County Antrim Shield.
Glentoran have won this trophy 26 times to date, but our current lapse of 13 seasons is our longest in the history of the Shield. Our last win was in a Big Two final at Windsor Park in November 2010, almost 13 years ago to the day when goals from Grant Gardiner, Andy Waterworth and Matty Burrows gave us a 3-1 win over Linfield. Our only subsequent appearances in the final resulted in a 2-1 defeat to Cliftonville at the Oval in November 2011 and a defeat on penalties to Larne in December 2020 at Seaview. Incredibly no fewer than 9 of the 11 starters that night have since left the club, including Joe Crowe and Cameron Stewart who are now with tomorrow night’s opponents.
The only other time in the last 30 years we faced Carrick in the Shield was in September 2011 on the way to the final when we had a comfortable home 5-2 win with our goals coming from Jim O’Hanlon (2), Jimmy Callacher, Owain Beggs and Darren Boyce. Clearly we need to show a significant improvement on our previous two meetings this season, both of which ended as humiliating league defeats for Glentoran.
In addition to Crowe and Stewart, the Carrick squad tomorrow night is likely to include former Glens players Ross Glendinning, Kyle Cherry, Irish Cup winner Stevie Gordon, Glens legend Curtis Allen and our primary tormentor in the previous two meetings, Danny Purkis.
Warren Feeney: “Needless to say I was very disappointed with the outcome on Friday at Larne. We put in a very strong performance and matched them so a draw would have been a fair result on the play but a couple of very basic defensive mistakes cost us a goal in each half.
"I’m looking forward to the Carrick game. I’ve said before that the big thing about Glentoran is that the club needs to get back to lifting trophies and doing it regularly. This semi-final gives us a path into a final where we can start achieving that. So this is a massive game. Obviously we know all about the quality Carrick have in their squad after our two losses to them so we’ll go out with energy and a very positive approach tomorrow night. Injuries are obviously the big issue for us with so many regular starters still missing. I’ve never experienced an injury list like it but we need to get on with it and for the players who’ve come in to take their chance. We need the fans to be behind the players right from the start and give them the boost players get from a big supportive crowd in a tight stadium. If we approach it the right way on and off the pitch we should do it.”
Tickets for this game are still available HERE. Supporters will also be able to pay at the gate.
