Football’s a funny old game. How many times have we said that over the years? Today’s match was extra special. The game itself was an important one; we had to win if we were to get our challenge back on track. But it was not the importance of the game which made it special for this Glenman.
It was the fact that today was my 7 year old brother’s first ever full Glentoran game, 13 years on from my first game. I knew that what he seen and experienced today would determine what he would do every Saturday for the rest of his life. Thankfully he can’t tell the difference between good football and Glentoran! But let’s not be mistaken, it was a game that had everything.
The Game started off fairly dull with nothing too exciting happening at either end. 7 minutes into the match Cliftonville won their first corner after a great challenge from Sean Ward. The in-swinging corner posed no threat to a Glentoran defence made up of Hill, Nixon, Ward and McGovern.
The closest the Glens came to a goal-scoring opportunity was on 10 minutes, after some good work by Gillespie and McGovern down the right flank. However the Cliftonville defence dealt easily with the Glens pursuing of the reds goal and the attack came to nothing. Minutes later Gary Hamilton looked clean through on goal, only for the ref to call play back after a foul on a Cliftonville defender.
We were challenging for every ball and making a nuisance of ourselves. Young Jimmy Callacher sent a trade-mark long pass over the top to Keith Gillespie, who, as it seems to be the norm, had the ball taken off him too easily. Cliftonville’s response to this was an attack forming on the right wing. After some good work the cross was made, Elliot Morris came off his line lost his balance, slipping slightly in his attempt to retrieve the ball. Morris stabilised and went back to his line, leaving it to be put out for a corner. The corner was easily disposed of by Callacher who gave Glentoran the chance to re-group.
The play was all Glentoran from here on in. Cliftonville were forced to make a substitution due to a George McMullan injury on 20 minutes. Soon after Callacher and Hamilton both had efforts saved by Connolly. Waterworth rounded the keeper but was brought down in the process, meaning his effort came to nothing.
Cliftonville got back into the game on 35 minutes. Ward brought down Boyce and earned himself a booking. Boyce’s free kick was blocked in the wall by Jimmy Callacher. Two minutes later the deadlock was broken after some ridiculous defending from Glentoran. Clarke put the ball in the back of the net even though Sean Ward, Keith Gillespie and Elliot Morris were all on the goal line. Here we go again.
Half time came and the Glens players went in, heads bowed and Elliott Morris arguing with the referee.
Soon after the break Gary Hamilton sent a great cross into the box for Kyle Neill. Neill, around 10 yards out, failed to make anything of the cross and sent the ball high over the bar. Less than 5 minutes into the second half and the incident everyone will be talking about. Cliftonville were attacking and were through on goal. Elliot Morris comes off his line and out of the box, visibly handling the ball outside his box.
Elliot Morris red card, Glentoran down to 10 men, can it get any worse? Forced substitution, Kyle Neill off and James Taylor on.
O’Hara tried to rub salt in the wound by having an effort on 54 minutes; however he could only hit the bar. A sigh of relief from The Oval. Jason Hill, who worked his socks off the whole game and did some fantastic wing work, pulled off some excellent moves to give Callacher the chance to equalise, however his shot was straight at the keeper.
In the space of 5 minutes the game was turned on its head. Shane McCabe on for Jimmy Callacher, Michael Halliday on for Andrew Waterworth. A move that, in my opinion, should have been made earlier.
The moment we had all been waiting for. Jason Hill again pulled off his magic (The only list this guy should be on is the player of the year shortlist) and sent the ball into the box to Gary Hamilton. Gary turned the defender and delivered the ball to the man who has saved us time and time again, Michael Halliday. Michael slots the ball home with ease. 1-1, game on!
We wanted it after this. The crowd was lifted and the atmosphere changed completely. The Glenmen were on their feet, willing the ball into the net.
Cometh the hour cometh the man. 85 minutes, in-swinging ball sent into the box. Lurking in the box is none other than Dean Fitzgerald. Up Deano pops with the header, not even spoiling his hair-do in the process. The man is cool as ice. After the game I was expecting a long queue of men with their wives outside the director’s entrance, gift wrapped with tags reading “To Deano.”
The typical Glentoran way is to make lives difficult for ourselves in the dying minutes of the game and why should this be any different. When 5 minutes went up on the board I have to admit I was having doubts, but how dare I doubt them, eh? The final whistle sparked scenes of jubilation.
Michael Halliday, Dean Fitzgerald and the whole Glentoran team – I thank you. The reason? “Can I come back again Matthew?” Welcome to the family, Benjamin.
Forever and ever.
Report by Matthew Brown |
Result: Glentoran 2 v 1 Cliftonville
Match: v Coleraine
Comp : Setanta, Date: 3/11/09, Venue: The Oval
Ah, the Setanta Cup. A competition which has been so cruel, yet so kind to us over the years. A competition which has provided me with some of the greatest ever away days. Drogheda away last season will be a hard match to beat. Then there was St Pats at home. Not a great crowd, but the crowd were behind the team, something we don’t often see at home in the Setanta Cup. When news filtered through about Linfield’s result at The Brandywell it made that game even more important. Then who could forget the penultimate? Cork away, Setanta Cup Final. When we went 1-0 up I thought “What if?” I still struggle to stick that game to the back of my head. The odds were stacked against us, but we were 45 minutes away from Setanta glory. It just wasn’t to be, but that cup run showed the players what the Setanta Cup is capable of.
This game was a must win, home to Coleraine and we have not won a game yet. Unfairly I must say, I think we deserved to win both of our first two fixtures. We were robbed against Bohs and Coleraine stuck a bus on the goal line in their attempt to keep us out. In my opinion, we have played our best football in the Setanta Cup this year.
As per usual, the Glens went 1-0 down after 6 minutes when Darren Boyce stuck the ball away after a counter attack from Coleraine, led by winger Stephen Dooley. Up to this point the play was all Glentoran, however one break down the right wing, Morris caught off his line (let’s not be mistaken, this was not Morris’ fault this time) and the rest is history. It is the norm for the Glens to go 1-0 down however and we cannot say this time that it took us to go one down before we started to play football, as up to this point the football was of a higher standard than has been seen on most occasions this season.
Soon after Kyle Neill had a shot from around 40 yards. O’Hare managed to save, however could not hold onto the ball. Waterworth was able to get a cross in from the edge of the 18 yard box which reached Daryl Fordyce. Unluckily for Fordyce his powerful header was easily caught by O’Hare and the score stayed 1-0. Fordyce had another shot from close range after Kyle Neil’s cross landed directly at his feet. Fordyce was unable to convert from close range; O’Hare spilled however Waterworth could not pounce as the keeper quickly recovered.
The Glens hit back 22 minutes later after Andrew Waterworth got on the end of a an Andy Hall cross in a move which involved 6 passes and some lovely one-touch football. Waterworth was easily able to slot home at the back post to put the Glens on level terms.
The first half finished all square but it did not take long for the Glens to have their first chance of the second half. Andy Hall delivered a lovely cross for Kyle Neill, although Neill could only volley the ball over the bar. Soon after Coleraine had a goal disallowed for offside, a good spot by the officials.
The Glens went ahead for the first time in the game after a defensive error by Kyle McVey. Clarke capitalised on the defenders mistake, squaring the ball to Fordyce who was one on  one with the keeper and managed to stay strong under pressure, sending the ball into the back of the net and putting us in the driving seat. 2-1 Glens.
We extended our lead after a move which started and finished with my MOTM, Andy Hall. Andy sent the ball to McGovern up the right wing, McGovern was able to cross the ball along the face of goal, however no white shirt was able to get on the end of it. The Coleraine clearance was only able to go as far as Andy Hall who scored an absolute peach of a goal from around 17 yards. The dipping ball went over the top of ‘keeper O’Hare.
The 2 goal lead would prove to come in handy after Coleraine pulled one back after Rory Patterson and Darren Boyce exposed an open Glentoran defence. Boyce got on the end of a Patterson cross to get Coleraine’s and his own second of the game.
The Glens dealt well with the pressure as Coleraine pressed for an equaliser. The final whistle went and the Glentoran faithful were treated to a wonderful show of football, something which has been missing far too much at The Oval of late.
So, all roads lead to Dublin where we take on Bohemians for the penultimate game which will decide whether or not we go through. The match just happens to fall on the same day as the Ireland vs Wales rugby match, 5 minutes down the road. I sense one of those typical Glentoran-style parties coming on!
Le Jeu Avant Tout
Report by Matthew Brown
Result: Glentoran 3 v 2 Coleraine |
Match: v Coleraine
Comp : League, Date: 7/11/09, Venue: The Oval
I’ve never seen the likes of it in my life. When I started writing for this website I guaranteed the T-Me n that I would be 100% honest when I started writing these match reports. It was on the front page that I would tell it exactly how it is, so that is what I am going to do. Unfortunately it’s also a rule I’m not allowed to swear – what a shame! Realistically this is possibly for the best, as I like to think of myself as a bit of an optimist.
So where was I? Oh yes, I have never seen the likes of it in my life. Conceding SIX at home, in fact seeing Glentoran concede six anywhere in the league is something I never thought I would experience. I was there in 2006 when we went 6-0 down to Linfield at Windsor. My man of the match that day was Elliot Morris, which speaks volumes for what could have been. We were down to 10 men in that game, Mark Glendinning was sent off. This time round it was Coleraine who hit us for 6....at home....in the league. No matter how many times I say it, it won’t sink in.
Let’s not be mistaken, in the first half we actually played some nice football. Even going 2-0 down at the break, I still believed that we would pull it back, like we have so many times before. I have read many people say, mostly Bluemen in fact that our luck has ran out. I ask them, how do they know? Over the past few weeks we have played out best football in the final 15 minutes or so of the game. Against Linfield, we played well for the entire second half and on Tuesday night (against the same team, with us playing the same starting 11) we played some of the best football I’ve seen us play all season. That isn’t luck, that’s us playing to our full potential. When we do play to our full potential then we will score 2 or 3 goals. Few will disagree. Leaving the ground on Tuesday I made the point of saying to a mate of mine “Hopefully that’s that. We will pick up and start playing football now.” Woops.
We went 1-0 down on 14 minutes after a Stephen Carson cross seemed to hit Colin Nixon’s shin in his attempt to clear the ball. Nixon’s clearance fell straight to the feet of Darren Boyce who had no difficulty in slotting the ball away. Yes, that’s Darren Boyce, the player deemed not good enough for our club. The player who has done nothing but score since joining Coleraine...especially against us. Now, where are those people that told me Darren Boyce was a winger, not a striker? 
The second goal of the game can only be described as a screamer. Andy Hall scored a great goal on Tuesday night against the same opposition and Rory Patterson obviously thought he should return the favour, bettering any goal I have seen in a very long time. Easily 30 yards from goal, Patterson received the ball out wide and struck it while having one of the league’s best defenders, Sean Ward, right on his tail. Although Morris was off his line, there was nothing the keeper could have done as the superb dipping ball struck the back of the net. The away stand went into hysterics, the main stand looked on in disbelief, however the Glenmen respectfully gave the goal the credit it deserved and applauded Patterson.
It wasn’t until 53 minutes the Glens looked dead and buried. The goal came from absolutely nothing. Davy O’Hare launched the ball up the pitch to Rory Patterson. Patterson was able to deal with Sean Ward’s consistent challenge, sending the ball home from just inside the area. 3-0, time to start worrying.
For the 4th goal with around 25 minutes to go on the clock I was left asking where the hell our defence was. I understand that we were 3-0 down and going all out attack, however had the players or manager not thought that Coleraine may easily hit us on the break if we were throwing everything but the kitchen sink at them? Obviously not, as our defence, with little pace in it, was left widely exposed when Carson sent the pacey Patterson clean through on goal. Patterson’s clinical finishing meant the Glens were 4-0 down, 3 of those courtesy of Rory Patterson. The Oval main stand started to empty.
Much like that night in 2006 at Windsor Park, I stayed exactly where I was. I never leave a game early and if anyone thought I was leaving this one early then they were largely mistaken. I looked on in pure disbelief when number 5 went. It was so similar to the last goal that you would thing Platt had written a script in the changing room at half time. Patterson again received the ball in a position where he was able to split the Glentoran defence right open, slotting past Morris with pure ease. This boy makes goal scoring look easy. The complete opposite of what Glentoran players do.
So that was that then? Surely? But oh no, Coleraine rubbed salt in the wound by getting their SIXTH goal of the game. I have never felt so humiliated in all my life. Darren Boyce’s great pass slide across the Oval surface for Carson to round off the scoring in what was a truly astonishing performance from Coleraine Football Club. A club which we thought were all but wound up a few years ago.
The scenes after the game really did summarise Glentoran’s afternoon. A group of supporters, widely reported as around 200, however this figure is exaggerated as those standing at the back of the group were merely looking on, seeing what all the fuss was about. It was cringe worthy at best and is something becoming all too familiar at The Oval. I am not saying that Alan McDonald is the right man to manager our club. I have always said he is not the long term solution. If Alan was to step down then I believe that it could be in the best interests of all parties involved. However Glentoran CANNOT afford to sack this man, I hope all supporters are aware of this.
I am more furious with the players on the pitch rather than the manager right now. I have been far too nice in this report, as it is my job to inform the reader rather than to go on a rant. But believe me; I could go on all day about the incompetence shown by this Glentoran side. We are the champions for crying out loud, we have the best squad in the league, packed with talent. So why can these players not click and start playing the way they should be? I would walk over broken glass to play for Glentoran. It’s such a sham e that the majority of our support are obviously useless at football, as we would sure give a hell of a lot better than what is being served up by Glentoran.
If Alan McDonald decides to stay on then there is nothing any of us can do about that. Hounding him every week is going to get us nowhere. Whoever is in charge come next week, I have one message for you – sort this mess out. We are Glentoran Football Club, Irish Premiership Champions. We as paying supporters deserve better.
I will support the team and I will support whoever is in charge, through thick and thin. But if the players are not willing to give 100% week in week out and are merely there to pick up a tidy pay packet at the end of the week, then I have no time for you as you are not earning your wage. In my opinion the full weeks wage from the entire team and management should have been donated to a good cause, such as the Ghana Glens.
A Coleraine fan said to me on the way out of the ground on Saturday “We have been threatening to do that for a while now – I’m just sorry it had to be you.” That makes two of us.
Beattie, hoke out that kit you wore on Boxing Day last season – you’re starting up front at Seaview.
Le Jeu Avant Tout
Report by Matthew Brown
Result: Glentoran 0 v 6 (six) Coleraine
Match: v Glenavon
Comp : CIS, Date: 10/11/09, Venue: Mourneview
My very first match report I wrote for the T-Men I opened with the line “Football is a funny old game.” Well doesn’t this just prove it? 
3 days previous to this match we got hit for 6 by a Coleraine side that haven’t looked anything special this season after a bright start. Fast forward a few days and we’re away to Mourneview in the CIS Insurance Cup second leg, the score line is currently 2-2 and we need to win to go through, or draw 3-3. No pressure then?
I actually felt strangely fired up for this game. I always look forward to a match, particularly the away ones, the craic that is had on Glentoran away trips are second to none. But for this game in particular I felt more enthusiastic than normal. Why though, was I looking forward to us keeping the score line below 6 this time round? Actually the complete opposite. I was totally confident for this match. I knew we would score at least 3 goals. At half time I wandered into the bar for a half time pint. I sat down on a seat, looked across the table and said to my all-too-frequent drinking companion “We’re going to score at least 3 here tonight” he agreed and said that he expressed the same feeling before the game.
We were slow getting off the mark, that can’t be mistaken. We were attacking but it was n’t coming to anything of note. Glenavon took a quick free kick across the park; however this caused danger for Mark Turkington. Keith Gillespie capitalised on a poor attempt of a clearance by Turkington, pelting down the right wing and pulling inside. From the terraces the Glenmen urged him to play the ball into the box for Daryl Fordyce who was lingering, with Gary Hamilton not far behind. However Gillespie decided to go solo, having a shot from around 17 yards which landed perfectly in the bottom right hand corner. Great work by Keith and 1-0 Glentoran (3-2 AGG).
Glenavon won a corner soon after the re-start. The in-swinging corner received a touch from Gary Ligget and onto Harpur, who could only manage to hit the bar. Minutes later Glenavon won a free kick easily 40 yards out if not more. The Stuart King free kick was high with plenty of power. Several players jumped for the high ball but were unable to get on the end of it. The ball bounced in the box, hitting underneath the crossbar and ending up in the back of the net. 1-1 (3-3 AGG).
At this point I did not feel at all worried. We were going to score 3, remember? Well this is what I thought at least. Usually the terraces would be glum with groans. Especially 1 game after a 6-0 tanking. This was not the case though. The terrace was encouraging the team with shouts of “Come on Glens” it was evident that most people felt upbeat. Why though, why? Who knows, because I certainly don’t.
It went in 1-1 at the break and rather than boo’s this time round it was applause and words of encouragement. It only took 4 minutes into the second half for the Glens to go ahead once again. Gary Hamilton took a free kick from a similar position as King’s in the first half, only on the opposite side. Hamilton’s free kick found the head of Colin Nixon with pin-point precision. Nixon headed downwards, easily slotting home and sending the Glentoran 2-1 up (4-3 AGG).
The Glens struggled to hold onto the lead for long. 10 minutes later, just short of the hour mark, Gary Ligget received the ball just outside the box. Striding 4 or 5 yards forward Ligget tried his luck just inside the area. The Glens defence stood still as the ball slid across the playing surface, beating James Taylor and putting Glenavon back on level terms for the second time in the game. The scores were level at 2-2 (4-4 AGG), however this result would mean extra time and if needed, penalties.
Once again I felt nothing towards this goal as I was still confident. And why shouldn’t I be? Dean Fitzgerald was having none of it. Straight from the kick off Deano was involved in some good build up work with Gary Hamilton and Daryl Fordyce. A one-two with Fordyce meant Fitzgerald could take advantage of some lack lustre defending from the Lurgan Blues. Deano controlled the ball, slotting the ball past Tuda Murphy, winning the game for the Glens as it finished 3-2 Glentoran on the night and 4-3 on aggregate.
Throughout the game we played some very entertaining football. I haven’t enjoyed a match like that one in a very long time.  The crowd that went weren’t there to abuse players, managers, backroom staff and so on, they were there to get behind the team and show their support for the champions. However my message to the Glentoran team would be we need co-operation. Going off the pitch there was no acknowledgement of the fans by the players. Towards the end of the game the fans gave their vocal support and showed their appreciation by clapping the team off the pitch. The same appreciation was lacking from our team. I suppose the team have a point due to the amount of stick they have been receiving lately, but as the old saying goes, if you can’t stand the heat...
This was an encouraging Glentoran performance, one which we need to build on rather than slipping back into old ways. Today Glentoran announced that Alan McDonald would be staying on as Glentoran manager. The majority may question this decision; however I am there to support my club 100% of the way, from the tea lady right through to the players. I am sure Alan understands he has got an uphill struggle from here on in and he obviously feels that he has a point to prove, but if he didn’t think he could do it then he wouldn’t be here, would he? I want Alan to go out and prove everyone wrong. If we’re attending a champion’s dinner this summer, make sure the speciality is humble pie, Alan.
I’d like to wish Alan McDonald, his backroom team, the players and everyone associated with Glentoran the best of luck for the rest of the season. We’re all in this together after all.
Bless ‘em all!
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