Glentoran v Ballymena United
Monday 6th November, 7.45pm.
On Monday evening the Sky cameras will again be at the Oval as we entertain Ballymena United for the third meeting between the teams this season. This is a real six pointer with United currently in eighth place, seven points behind the Glens with thirteen games played. Our previous meetings this season have both been at the Showgrounds with a win each. We enjoyed a deserved 3-1 league win in September with goals from Marcus Kane, Curtis Allen and John McGuigan while we lost 1-0 in the County Antrim Shield two weeks ago.
Dealing with the level of expectation resulting from last season’s European qualification was always likely to be an issue for United boss David Jeffrey this term and there is no doubt that Ballymena have struggled to reach those dizzy heights so far. A raft of injuries, suspensions and chopping and changing of personnel hasn’t helped but United’s Achilles heel remains their inability to keep the ball out of their net, with individual errors often proving particularly costly – our league win at the Showgrounds in September a prime example. We will need to watch striker Johnny McMurray as his return from injury has already proved a major plus – as evidenced by his winning goal in Ballymena’s victory over the Glens in the County Antrim Shield last month. It’s not the first time McMurray has done well against us over the past couple of seasons, both for his current club and also during his loan spell at Warrenpoint.
The way the league is panning out, it appears that Ballymena and Glentoran will be among a clutch of clubs battling for a top six spot and the Sky Blues will be all too aware that defeat at the Oval would already, even at this relatively early stage of the campaign, leave them 10 points behind us so a positive result on Monday is just as important to Ballymena as it is for ourselves. The fact that the Oval has traditionally been one of United’s happier hunting grounds makes it all the more imperative that our players are on their game right from kick off.
Calum Birney will miss the match as he serves a one match suspension while John McGuigan will be in hospital as his operation takes place on Monday following the knee injury he sustained against Cliftonville recently.
Gary Haveron: “It’s a pity Calum is suspended because he’s been playing well, but I’m pleased we were able to get John McGuigan sorted out with his operation so quickly as he’s very central to how we play and we definitely miss his energy and contribution all over the pitch. His operation isn’t as serious as it could have been and I’d be hopeful of having him back in the squad by the turn of the year. On a more positive note, Eoghan McCawl has fully recovered from a bad dead leg he got from a poor and heavy challenge at the Showgrounds while Nathan Kerr trained well on Saturday morning and should hopefully be available for selection. Dylan Davidson is also getting back to full match fitness after a couple of recent substitute appearances and it’s a real boost having him available as we definitely missed him. Unfortunately Tre Sterling picked up a knock in training during the week so we’ll check him out before making any final decision.
I was very disappointed to lose at the Showgrounds a couple of weeks ago. We started well but a few of the team fell away a bit for a period and that’s when they got their goal. We can’t afford to do that in any match. We got back into it well but weren’t able to get the breakthrough we needed and weren’t helped by some of the refereeing decisions on the night. But I think our performance in the league in September was more typical of us and we’ll make sure we start as well on Monday as we did that day and we’ll come away with the win.”
Just a reminder that the Appeal volunteers will be available to receive items donated at Monday night’s home match with Ballymena United. This year the appeal aims to help not only the city’s homeless, but also those less fortunate than ourselves in the East Belfast area.
Please donate if you can and do not wrap your gifts. We are particularly keen to receive the following items:
Male and female gift sets e.g. Lynx, Dove, Impulse
Boxes of chocolates or large bars of chocolate.
Tea Bags, Jars of Coffee, Hot Chocolate.
Crisps, jars of cooking sauces, rice and pasta.
Non-perishable food items including tins of soup, tuna, salmon, beans, peas, fruit, etc.
Packets of custard, biscuits, sugar, rice.
Christmas goods such as Christmas cake, pudding, shortbread, crackers, mince pies etc.
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.