Glentoran 2006s paraded the much coveted Super Cup to our large home support at Tuesday nights IPL game against Coleraine at the Oval to round off an amazing journey in their young careers!
In the competition itself a couple of weeks back the boys had to mount a comeback after a shaky start on day one of the tournament where the boys lost 2-1 to Bertie Peacock against the run of play which put them up against it as it usually takes three wins to top a super cup group and only first place in the group make the super cup proper.
Brendan Hamilton scored on day one.
Brendan Hamilton shows the cup to Glentoran majority shareholder Ali Pour, and Chairman Stephen Henderson
The next day however saw a marked improvement as they defeated American side GPS 3-1 with goals from Jude Johnson (2) and Killian McCandless and with Coleraine beating Bertie Peacock the boys got had a lifeline!
On day three we defeated Coleraine 2-1 with a Jude Johnson penalty and another strike from left back Brendan Hamilton while Bertie Peacock and GPS drew 2-2, thus securing top spot in the group which seemed unlikely after day one.
Finn Harps had been getting all the attention with a couple of big performances early in the week most notably a 4-0 thrashing of Linfield on Tuesday so it was a big ask in the Semi Final but the Glens were rarely troubled at the back in a tight encounter played out live on the BBC sport website and ten minutes from time a surging run from Reece Walsh into the box led to the Harps player dragging him down for a penalty that was dispatched by Jude Johnson to seal a 1-0 win.
The showpiece final against Dungannon at the Coleraine Showgrounds brought with it some pre match nerves in the players and it was evident to the coaching staff that the boys felt this was the biggest game of their young careers to date. But they dug deep yet again and ground out a remarkable 2-0 win with goals from Jack McCosh and Jay Dalzell who also won the official man of the match award. There was relief and joy on the lads faces as they lifted the trophy becoming the first Irish League team to do so in 30 years!
Man of the Match Awards;
Jude Johnson v Peacocks
Brendan Hamilton v GPS
Jack McCosh v Coleraine
Jay Dalzell v Finn Harps
Lucas Miskimmin v Dungannon
Squad;
Ryan Kerr
Mason Munn
Brendan Hamilton
Lucas Miskimmin
Callan Farley
Jack McCosh
Colin Parker
Rhys Walsh
Jay Harvey
Colby Smith
Killian McCandless
Callum Adams
Reece Lyttle
Jay Dalzell
Jude Johnson
Mason Bowater
Ronan O’Hara
Coaches;
Declan Lynch
Jordan Finlay
Stephen Lowry
Coaches Declan Lynch, Jordan Finlay and Stephen Lowry
