Glentoran v Cliftonville
Saturday 4th August 2018, Kick Off 3pm
Tomorrow we open the new season with a visit from Cliftonville, presenting us with an early chance to get revenge for the late defeat in the Europa League Play Off Final in our last competitive match, back in May.
All three of this week’s signings – Conor Pepper, Lee Chapman and Nigel Prentice – have had their registrations approved with Pepper likely to make his debut in centre midfield.
Manager Ronnie McFall said after training on Thursday night: “Among other things we’ve been really working on and monitoring the players’ fitness over the summer. We’ve done four nights and Saturday mornings throughout pre season and the new GPS Fitness Trackers the club bought at the start of the summer have really given the coaching staff the chance to monitor each player individually. The players have all worked very hard throughout pre season and the spirit around the squad is high.
Glentoran matches against Cliftonville are usually close, hard fought affairs and I don’t see this one being any different. It will be a good chance to measure ourselves early against decent opposition. They’ve made a few decent additions to their squad but we were unlucky to lose the play off match after fighting back so well so I’m confident we can give the best possible account of ourselves and get a good result.
Robbie McDaid will be out this week as he’s still recovering from a hamstring injury and Paul O’Neill isn’t available. That leaves us with limited options upfront but Curtis has a good scoring record against the Reds so we’ll set up in a way to capitalise on that. Apart from Robbie and Paul we have a full squad to pick from, including our three new signings so we’re ready to go.”
This match will be sponsored by the Ballymacarrett Glentoran Supporters Club.
Don’t forget the Ron Manley Suite will be officially opened at 1.30pm.
There will also be a very special edition of the multi award winning Glentoran Gazette dedicated to the memory of “Yorkie”. A one-off cover has been designed by Clifford Logan, Glentoran Legends Manager Philip Stevenson pays tribute to Ron and Liam Murray shares his memories of Yorkie’s latter years as a Reds player.
The newly refurbished Premier Lounge and the Milk Bar will be open all afternoon.
Season tickets for 2018/19 will be available at the Glentoran Superstore from 10am to 12.30am on Saturday. These will permit access to Saturday's match. Season tickets will be on sale during the match but entry will not be reimbursed.
The Board of Directors at Glentoran Football Club would again request that all supporters travelling to the Oval by private car consider the local residents when deciding where and how to park. Local parking is freely available at the Arches Health Centre.
