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Thorndike Strike Seals Glens' Irish Cup Delight

Sat, 01/02/2025 - 00:01

Glentoran edged past Linfield in a dramatic Clearer Water Irish Cup sixth-round clash, with substitute Finlay Thorndike netting an extra-time winner to send the Glens into the Quarter-Finals.

Thorndike’s strike settled a fiercely contested encounter under the Friday night lights at the BetMcLean Oval, securing Glentoran's fourth win in five meetings against their ‘Big Two’ rivals this season.

It was a tense first half with few clear-cut chances. Glentoran’s Danny Amos produced the first real effort, forcing Linfield goalkeeper David Walsh into a diving save from a 24-yard free-kick.

The visitors came closest to breaking the deadlock when Ben Hall’s header from a Joel Cooper corner rattled the crossbar.

Half-Time: Glentoran 0-0 Linfield

The breakthrough arrived on 53 minutes. A defensive lapse saw the ball fall to Jordan Jenkins on the edge of the area, and the striker capitalised with a low shot across goal that wrongfooted Walsh and nestled into the bottom corner.

Linfield pushed for a response, with Chris McKee heading wide from a Matthew Orr cross. Glentoran continued to threaten, and Jenkins almost doubled his tally with an audacious 30-yard lob that drifted just over.

The equaliser came on 72 minutes when Ethan McGee’s long throw was met by McKee, whose glancing header crept inside the near post past Daniel Gyollai.

Linfield nearly snatched the lead in the 83rd minute, but Fuad Sule made a crucial goal-line clearance to deny Cooper after he had rolled the ball under the Glentoran keeper.

 

Full-Time: Glentoran 1-1 Linfield

Seven minutes into extra time, Linfield’s task became even tougher as referee Tim Marshall sent off Cooper for kicking out at Johnny Russell following a collision.

Glentoran almost made the numerical advantage count immediately, but Dylan Connolly’s close-range effort was blocked by McGee.

The decisive moment arrived eight minutes from time. Thorndike, introduced as a substitute, unleashed a thunderous strike from the edge of the area, leaving Walsh with no chance and sending the home fans into raptures.

Tensions flared late on, with Linfield captain Chris Shields and Glentoran’s Joe Thomson both seeing second yellow cards as frustrations boiled over.

Glentoran now look ahead to the quarter-final draw, where they will discover their next opponents in the pursuit of silverware.

After Extra Time: Glentoran 2-1 Linfield