Saturday 29 February 2020 Kick-off 3.00pm
On Saturday we play one of the biggest games of the season so far when Crusaders come to the Oval in the Quarter Final of the Sadler’s Peaky Blinder Irish Cup.
While our own results have been inconsistent in February, Crusaders, after a strong January, have had three successive defeats this month – away to Glenavon, the Bet McLean League Cup Final against Coleraine, and last week’s 4-0 rout by Linfield. So, these are pretty different circumstances from our other meetings in recent years. They had a relatively quiet January window with only right back Cameron Dumigan joining on loan from Dundalk, while Matthew Snoddy (loan) and – most surprisingly – talismanic captain Colin Coates, so often the driving force behind Crusaders, both departed for Glenavon.
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Mick McDermott: “While I was disappointed at the result against Glenavon last week, I thought we were very much the better team and played some very good football. We dominated the game and created enough chances to win the game relatively comfortably. I thought our movement up front from Ruaidhri, Nav and Robbie was excellent, and I thought Ruaidhri’s, link up play before Nav’s two great finishes was outstanding. Two goals like that should have won us the match but I was disappointed in the manner of the two we conceded. The first was a very good finish by Purkiss but I thought we were too slow to defend it. The second was a fluke and the referee acknowledged after the match that he should have blown for a foul on Moko.
This is a big one on Saturday. Crusaders are coming here on the back of a poor run of results. They’re eleven points behind Linfield so they might see the cup as their only route into Europe so they will be totally up for this and we’ll need to be even more so. Crusaders have been successful in recent years and they know how to win things. But we have a very strong team available for selection (everyone apart from the four ineligible players) and I’m confident of a good performance on Saturday.
I thought we were good enough to win our last home match against Crusaders in December. A couple of big decisions went against us but certainly we had the majority of the play and I’m confident we’ll produce an equally good performance on Saturday and hopefully get the result we need. It’s always a case of fine margins in cup ties so a big support, loudly behind us could just be the difference.”
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.
Saturday’s Match Sponsor is Nicdar Tiles
Nicdar Tiles are a newly formed tile showroom based in East Belfast who have found a market to supply top quality Mediterranean tiles at low cost prices.
We sell from a large range of tiles in large format, wood effect, marble style etc. in porcelain and ceramic.
You can find us on Facebook & Twitter
Nicdar Tiles
Unit 14
Hanwood Business Park
Dundonald
Belfast
BT16 1DE
Telephone: 07852 427240
