Saturday 23 November 2019, Kick Off 3.00pm
On Saturday we look to both bounce back from out County Antrim Shield disappointment and also get some revenge on Dungannon Swifts for their comfortable defeat of at Stangmore Park in August.
We are currently thirteen points and four places ahead of ninth placed Dungannon. However, we won’t need much reminding of our performance in that 3-1 defeat, or of our 4-2 defeat on their last visit to the Oval New Year’s Day in what was was probably our worst performance of last season. So, no doubt Mick and Paul will have made clear to the players that this is the sort of match in which we expect to perform at our best and to win.
Dungannon based journalist Adrian Rutherford of the Belfast Telegraph told www.glentoran.com of the Swifts’ recent form: “Dungannon and Glentoran last met in August, when Dylan King, Ryan Waide and Seanan Clucas scored for the Swifts in a 3-1 win. They beat Glenavon the following week to go joint top of the table with Crusaders, but since then it has all gone wrong. A run of just one win from their next 11 league games has seen Dungannon slide down the table. Last weekend’s 1-0 home loss to Larne, when they played for more than an hour with a man advantage, was their sixth straight league loss. Some of the defeats have been heavy - 5-0 to Coleraine and Cliftonville, and 4-0 in the home game with Cliftonville.
Undoubtedly the Swifts are missing the likes of Christopher Hegarty, such an influential figure in their defence last season, who is now at Crusaders. They have conceded some really poor goals - Martin Donnelly’s winner for Larne last weekend followed a basic error.While they have faced some big sides, Dungannon have also lost games they would expect to win. They allowed a 2-0 lead to slip at bottom club Warrenpoint, who came back to win 4-3 - their first victory of the league season. With a busy run of games in December, including crucial home games against Warrenpoint and Institute, manager Kris Lindsay knows the losing run cannot continue”.
Mick McDermott: "I was furious at the manner of our defeat at Solitude last night. What made it worse was that it was totally avoidable. You can prepare all week in training, you can send scouts to watch the opposition and you can show the videos and brief the players fully about how good Joe Gormley is at sneaking behind defenders and taking half chances. But then early in the match you concede a goal like that. It is criminal and there’s no excuse for it. It came from a dead ball taken long from deep their half of the pitch. For two such outstanding central defenders to have a moment of madness with such a lapse in thinking when someone like Gormley is around is criminal and I was very disappointed. Then at the other end we had at least three good chances to score but didn’t hit the target with one of them. The game could have gone either way at 1-0 but do give away a soft goal then not take our chances was disappointing all round, not least because we wanted the supporters to be in a final. But we move on.
Dungannon have been struggling to get results lately, and we know we need a result. Every league match is massive and after dropping points against Institute – which we shouldn’t have, given the chances we created – we need to get back to winning. Kris always has his teams well organised and we need to be prepared for the fact that they’re not likely to come to play expansive football but equally after August at their place we know they’re a better team than their results suggest. It’ll be a hard one and the fans will be wanting a result after Tuesday night. So, we’ll work hard to perform well and get the result we want.
The only player currently not available to us is Curtis. He had a setback a couple of weeks ago but now he’s back running again. We hope to have him back by early to mid-December, which will be brilliant for us coming into the Christmas period. We all know what a good goalscorer Curtis is, so we want him to get a full recovery and be available to us for the rest of the season. We’re taking it slowly to get it right for both him and us as he’s a massive player for this club.
With a few weeks until the January transfer window opens, we’re working hard to be in a position to strengthen the areas we feel need it. We are in the results business, and part of that is always striving to be better, to work better, to play better and to recruit better; we are always looking to strengthen our squad...there is no time to stand still”
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 Strandburn Pharmacy and McDonald’s Pharmacy
Strandburn Pharmacy on nearby Connsbrook Avenue and McDonalds Pharmacy of 81 Castlereagh Road are your local independent pharmacies. They visit all local doctors’ surgeries daily and offer free prescription collection and delivery services to all patients. Strandburn Pharmacy also features Sydenham Post Office which is convenient for all your postage and daily banking needs.
