Monday 13 November
Kick Off 7.45pm
Tomorrow evening we travel to the Showgrounds to face Coleraine in a match between fifth and sixth in the Sports Direct Premiership.
Last time we faced each other two months ago, we went into the game top of the table. That 2-1 home defeat with the Glens squandering a lead in a manner that has become something of a trend since, started a series of results that now has us fifth, a point ahead of tomorrow night’s opponents. More tellingly we are now 16 points away from the top of the table, 11 behind second place and 7 behind fourth placed Crusaders, albeit with a game in hand. So anything other than a win in this one would leave us well adrift of the top 5 going into a 9-game spell that includes a visit to Larne and two matches each v both Linfield and Cliftonville.
Since we last met, Coleraine have taken 9 points out of 18 compared to our 7 out of 18. In their last 3 league games the have lost to Ballymena United, Cliftonville, but last week they had a good 2-0 away win over Crusaders. Both goals v the Crues came from Conor McKendry who also scored their winner at the Bet McLean Oval in September.
Both last season’s visits to the Showgrounds resulted in draws – a scoreless affair this week last year and a 2-2 draw in February. That day the Glens held a 2-1 lead with a minute to go through an Aaron Jarvis OG and a Conor McMenamin wonder goal but lost 2 points to an equaliser from Matthew Shevlin. Our last win in Coleraine was in January 2022 when goals from Conor McMenamin and Robbie McDaid gave us a 2-1 advantage. We'll be hoping that others can add to Jay Donnelly's current run of 5 goals in his last 5 games.
Warren Feeney: ““Against Linfield on Tuesday night, it’s always disappointing to go out of any cup. Overall I thought we were well in the game but we conceded two poor goals and the second was a real sucker punch coming immediately after half time. But there were positives in some of our play in the second half in particular and we need to build on those.
We still have our injury concerns, especially in defence, But we have to work through that. Paddy is back tomorrow night but now Aidan has a one match suspension while Luke and Marcus are still out as well as Bobby and Rhys. Rhys is still a few weeks away. Seanan Clucas had a start for the Seconds on Monday night and he’ll be a very welcome return when he’s back. But like Rhys he’s also still a few weeks away and after so long out we want to bring him along at the right pace.
On a positive though. Aaron Wightman did very well on his first game back after injury, Johnny Russell acquitted himself well on Tuesday in one of his first starts. And of course Singo has been great anywhere we’ve had to use him this season.
Situations like this give other players a chance so although we have a very tough game against a very good Coleraine team, we’ll go there with a positive mindset looking to put in a good performance and get the right result. The players need the supporters to be behind them even though they’re clearly disappointed with where we are right now. The mood coming from the stands can affect younger players in particular so I ask our fans to give them as much backing as they can at Coleraine.”
Tickets for this game can be purchased HERE.
Coleraine FC have asked that Glentoran supporters access the Showgrounds via the Hillman's way entrance which is detailed with the red line on the map below.
