Saturday 27th March 2021, Kick off 3.00pm
While it is indisputable that Crusaders have an incredible record against Glentoran over the past decade or so, they did not win on either of their visits to the Oval last season. In the league encounter, an entertaining 1-1 draw saw Jamie McGonigle put Crusaders ahead 4 minutes after half time before a strong Glens fightback was rewarded when Robbie McDaid grabbed a typical and well deserved 80th minute equaliser. The game ended on a sour note, however, with Cameron Stewart harshly sent off in injury time when defender Howard Beverland went to ground alleging he'd been struck by an elbow from the big striker. Justice was done when the red card was rescinded on appeal by the IFA Disciplinary Committee.
In the Irish Cup Quarter Final at the end of February 2020, Glentoran finally managed a long-awaited victory over the Crues that set us on our way to (eventually!) winning the Cup against Ballymena in July. After McGonigal had again given Baxter's team a half time lead, the game turned in the 67th minute when Captain Marcus Kane's driven shot from outside the box flew past goalkeeper Gerard Doherty and nestled in the bottom corner. This led to relentless pressure from Glentoran to grab a winner and, with 2 minutes to go, Robbie McDaid coolly converted a penalty to take us through. Sadly, this game also ended on a sour note as the cauldron-like atmosphere became too much for defender Jordan Forsythe and keeper Doherty as both needlessly saw red in injury time.
Since defeating Warrenpoint 4-0 at Seaview at the beginning of January, Crusaders have embarked upon an uncharacteristically poor run of results. In 15 games played since January 2nd, they have managed just 4 wins (including the 1-0 win against the Glens at Seaview last month), 3 draws and endured 8 defeats. Normally unstoppable on their own patch, they have lost 5 of their last 6 fixtures at Seaview, 3 of those to teams currently in the bottom 6.
Baxter rang the changes for Tuesday nights defeat to bottom side Dungannon Swifts, which included totemic striker Jordan Owens being recalled to lead the line in place of Adam Leckey and defender BJ Burns returning from injury among 6 changes in total, though fellow defender Chris Hegarty missed out again through injury. With such a large squad to choose from, the long serving boss may be tempted to shuffle his pack again. Ross Clarke was surprisingly benched at Stangmore Park, despite scoring an impressive individual goal in the 2-1 loss to Linfield, but he may be in line to replace Reece McGinley here and Robbie Weir and Ben Kennedy will be pushing for recalls in midfield. Goalkeeper Jonathan Tuffey has had a disappointing start to his Crusaders career, so former long term No1 Sean O'Neill may earn a recall to the side at his expense.
Mick McDermott: “I’m glad to be back at Oval again after a run where seven of our last ten games were away from home. Also we’ve had a difficult series of games as playing teams twice in quick succession is never easy. Despite that we have picked up a lot of points recently with nine wins from our last eleven matches so obviously we’re looking to get maximum points again on Saturday.
Crusaders is always a very difficult game. They may not appear to be the Crues of previous years, but we are under no illusions, they are capable of beating any team in this league on their day. We are expecting and preparing for a highly competitive game.
Conor McMenamin suffered an injury to his toe from a very heavy tackle against Warrenpoint, which is a shame as he has settled in so well for us with five goals in our current run. Also Ciaran O’Connor is a few days away from full training with the rest of the squad and slightly further away from playing.
So the games continue to come thick and fast with Tuesday and Saturday fixtures for the rest of the season. Certainly, that’s difficult for everyone involved, but our players are fit, hungry and looking forward to the challenge!”
As usual, supporters can access our GlensTV live stream of the match by signing up here. Live match coverage can be purchased for £7 (which includes access to a full replay of the action), while a delayed stream will cost £3. Remember, our stream will commence just after 2.30 with a match preview programme, and our match commentator Aaron Agnew will be accompanied as co-commentator by our legendary, quadruple title winning skipper Paul Leeman. This of course is free of charge to season ticket holders.
