Sadler’s Peaky Blinders Irish Cup Semi-Final
Monday 27 July 2020, Kick Off 8.00 pm
An unprecedented 20 weeks without football comes to an end tomorrow night at the National Stadium. We take up as we left of, with a match against Cliftonville, this time in the semi-final of the Sadler’s Peaky Blinder Irish Cup.
Last time we faced the Reds in the cup was in May 2013 at the same venue. On that occasion a 3-1 cup final win over a very good Cliftonville gave the Glens our 21st Irish Cup. The only survivors from that day are our captain on the day (and on our most recent cup win in 2015) Elliott Morris, and our current captain Marcus Kane, who made a substitute appearance that afternoon.
Mick McDermott: “It’s good to be finally back playing, and the lads are all looking sharp with a very positive mood all around the place, and we are all looking forward to what promises to be a very exciting night for football in Northern Ireland.
This is a unique situation as none of us have been away from football for anything like this length of time. But the boys and the coaching staff have all worked very hard over the past few weeks and are all in the best shape anyone could be in this situation. That includes some of the lads who have been out on loan since January and also Cameron Stewart who, while he’s not available for the cup, is also pretty much recovered and will be a great asset to us when we start the new season.
Off the training pitch we haven’t stood still. Paul and I have been working very hard to strengthen the squad and we hope to be able to confirm some quality signings in the very near future. As everyone knows we had to move very quickly last summer once the deal for the investment went through. That worked out well and here we are in the semi-final of the cup, but this year we’ve had a lot more time to prepare and to scout players and I’m confident we’ll all see the benefit of that whenever the new season begins.
We all know how important the Irish Cup has always been to Glentoran supporters and it’s a tragedy that we won’t have any fans at the match tomorrow night. Our fans have been magnificent all season in terms of numbers and also in how they’ve got behind the team. There have been occasions when you have played a massive part in helping get us over the line in important matches. You will all be missed tomorrow but rest assured you will all be in our thoughts as we give everything we have to try to bring this cup back to East Belfast and to end this challenging decade for Glentoran in a way you will all love.”
