News in Full

March 12, 2008
ST PAT'S boss, Johnny McDonnell has admitted that the Glens deserved to win Monday night's Setanta tie. He told Wednesday's Daily Mirror that his team had been given a kick up the backside after underestimating Alan McDonald's side.

"I didn't think we deserved to win the match," said McDonnell. "I don't think we played as well as we could.Glentoran probably should have won. "I think we underestimated Glentoran at the start of the game. "Maybe some of our lads thought 'ah, we'll be all right against Glentoran'.

So there is no harm we got a kick up the backside." Glens' full back Colin Nixon, who scored on the night, said the squad were disapointed with the result. "To be 3-1 up with a couple of minutes left and draw 3-3 is gutting. "Some people have told us it's not a bad result away from home but we are all extremely disappointed."

March 11, 2008

COLIN Nixon and Daryl Fordyce have been named in Setanta's unofficial team of the first round after Monday night's 3-3 draw with St Pat's at Inchicore.

Reporter Gareth Maher singled out Nixon as "nothing short of exceptional" in the Richmond park draw.

Fordyce, said Maher "lived up to the hype as a player to watch as he dazzled for Glentoran".

St Pat's Gary O'Neill, who claimed two of his sides goals on Monday, is also included along with Linfield's Peter Thompson and Michael Gault, Cliftonville's Francis Murphy and Dungannon Swift's Johnny Montgomery.

March 6, 2008

By Caroline Menary
Kelly Bailie is honoured at the prospect of skippering Northern Ireland against England on Thursday.
The UEFA Qualifier will be the first time Kelly has captained the team in a competitive match and she is very much looking forward to leading the team out.

Experienced captain Stacey Hall will miss the vital match after aggravating a knee injury during the recent Spain match last month. Alfie handed the reigns to Glentoran Belfast United star, Bailie, on Wednesday.

"It is a great honour for me to captain the squad in such a big game and I'm very grateful to Alfie for giving me the role. It's unfortunate that it is due to the fact that Stacey Hall is injured, and we'll definately miss her during the game, but we'll give 100 per cent and get what we can out of the match. England is such a big country in footballing terms and we are really looking forward to the game. We've worked really hard on our fitness levels and trained as often as we could to get into the best shape possible," said Kelly.

Kelly is calling for fans to support the team and says everyone is more than welcome to cheer on the girls, "When we played England at Gillingham last May, there was a great attendance. It was the biggest crowd we had ever played in front of and it was fantastic. Hopefully we'll get a good attendance at Mourneview on Thursday because I know it would really lift us if the crowd's behind us," she added.

England named eight Arsenal players in their squad which will guarantee some fantastic football. But Northern Ireland will not be fazed by the thought of playing against the World Cup Finalists, and are excited at facing such a well renowned footballing nation, "Every game we play is important but playing England seems slightly more so. This match will no doubt be the most important in our history and every player will want to get on and do their bit for Northern Ireland," added Bailie.

Admission is priced at £5 (adults) and £3 (concessions and senior citizens).

March 4, 2008

PROPERTY developer Garrett Kelleher has literally put Glen’s first Setanta Cup opponents, St Patrick's Athletic, in a different league.
The 45-year-old multi-millionaire bought the club last year and installed a new board of directors with himself as chairman.
He's the latest in a line of wealthy backers bankrolling Eircom league sides following on from big-money injections at Drogheda and Cork City.
Using some of his own considerable resources Kelleher has already started to deliver on his pledge to remain at Inchicore, develop the ground and the club.
One of his first moves was to bring former Republic boss, Brian Kerr, back to Richmond Park as director of football.
Now the club enter their first season as a fully-professional club - everyone from players to the kit man is on the pay role.
St Pat's are currently developing their youth academy and have adopted a policy of bringing back young players from England.
"We have long-term ambitions for this club which would establish it as a force in the European game," said Kelleher.
He is used to big jobs as his company, Shelbourne Developments, is currently building the tallest residential building in the world.
The Chicago Spire, close to where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan, will stand at over 2,000 feet when it is completed in 2010.
It will not only be the city's tallest building but the highest in North America and Europe.
Dubliner Kelleher regards Chicago as his second home.
He arrived there in 1986 with 500 dollars in his pocket, became a sub-contractor in the painting business, then a contractor then a developer before returning to Dublin in 1996 and entering the property market there.
Now has interests in England, Belgium, and France including the purchase of the Lloyds of London building in 2004 for over 300 million euros.

John Grayden

March 2, 2008

HOTSHOT Gary Hamilton has let the all-Ireland league cat out of the bag.
In today's Sunday Life he revealed more details of the project driven by Jim Roddy.
The Glens top striker unveiled details of a secret meeting former Derry City chief Roddy held with Glentoran and Linfield players this week.
Michael Halliday, Elliot Morris, Daryl Fordyce joined up with Peter Thompson, Kris Lindsay, Jamie Mulgrew and Jim Ervin to discuss the move.
Hamilton revealed that the proposed league would be run independently from the two governing bodies on the island.
However, it is proposed that the Carnegie and Eircom premier leagues would act as feeders to the new competition.
Television and commercial sponsors are said to be keen to back the full-time set-up with one live match per week being screened.
An apprenticeship scheme for under 19s would also be part of the deal.
Clubs north and south of the border have already been consulted as has the Eircom league's players' union.
Hamilton, who backed the proposals wholeheartedly, claims the ten-team league could be ready to start as early as August 2009.

March 1, 2008

Rodney Thomas sent me a book titled "In Full Flood". It's the autobiography of the recently retired Managing Director of Guinness rise from rags to riches. It's a good read and you can get copies from Amazon.
Why do I tell you about this? The ex-Managing Director, who believe it or not is a tee-totaller, is none other then Finbar Flood. For our younger readers big Finbar played nine games for the Glens in the 1963/64 season before being replaced in goal by the legendary steeplejack Albert Finlay. For both of them after that the rest is history.

March 1, 2008

MATCH STATS

Match: Finn Harps
Comp: Friendly
Date: 26 February 2008

Venue: The Oval

Glentoran	Teams	Finn Harps
	TOTAL
2	Goals	0
3	Shots On Target	6
2	Shots Off Target	3
0	Hit Woodwork	0
3	Corners Won	6
2	Caught Offside	2
12	Fouls Conceded	7
0	Booked	0
0	Sent Off	0
n/a	Possession	n/a

February 3, 2008

SKIPPER Paul Leeman has eased himself into the Glens top ten appearances list. He equalled Trevor Thompson's 464 appearances against Dungannon Swifts and moved ahead of the famous centre forward when he took the field against Lisburn Distillery. Leeper, who started off the season in joint 15th place on the list, has this campaign already overtaken legends Raymond "Nuts" Morrison, Billy Caskey and Albert Finlay as well as big Trevor's fellow Cougar Billy McKeag. If he stays fit this season and part of Alan McDonald's plans, Paul needs three more games to match John Devine's 468 appearances and a further six to catch the immaculate Billy Neill. Michael Halliday in 25th place is rapidly closing in on Jungle Jim Murdough, Jim "Bimbo" Weatherup and Gary Smyth, currently on loan to Crusaders.

February 1, 2008

FORMER Glens' favourite Stuart Elliot has left English Championship Hull City for League One side Doncaster Rovers on loan until the end of the season. The out-of-favour winger moved to the south Yorkshire club on the transfer window deadline. Last month he turned down a permanent move to another League One club, Southend United, saying his family were settled in Hull.

February 1, 2008

Will it be 4th time lucky for the Glens? The Glens entertain a Donegal Celtic side on Friday night hoping to secure their 1st victory against the West Belfast side at their 4th attempt in the Carnegie Premier League (CPL)

Last Season saw Donegal Celtic finish 13th in the CPL finishing on 27 points, but despite this poor finish they remained unbeaten in both league meetings with the Glens last season, a 1-1 draw at the Oval, and 1-0 victory at the Suffolk Road venue.

The Glens last game against DC in the CPL this season resulted in a 3-3 draw at the Suffolk Road venue, where David Scullion scored a hat trick.

This season has also been a poor one for DC, where they lie in 15th position on 14 points, winning one game in the CIS and already out of the Irish Cup.

However, Paddy Kelly's side have improved of late, where they remain unbeaten in their last four outings.

In their 25 outings to date this season Donegal Celtic have won five, drew seven and lost thirteen games.
Donegal Celtics' last outing was a 3-1 home victory against Limavady United, on Tuesday last.
Donegal Celtic’s main threat will come from Paul McVeigh with 10 goals to his name this season, but he will be joined by Colm Kearney who has joined from Glenavon for his 2nd spell with the Club, and had a dream start on his home debut when he scored a brace against Limavady United on Tuesday.
This may be top versus bottom, and the Glens must be cert for a victory, but the they can take nothing for granted, given their previous league record against DC in the CPL, and their far from impressive home performances this season.
Previous Meetings Vs Donegal Celtic;
26th August 2006 CIS Group A (Away) W 3-1
16th September 2006 CIS Group A (Home) W 5-0
28th September 2006 CPL (Home) D 1-1
3rd February 2007 CPL (Away) L1-0
27th October 2007 CPL (Away) D3-3

By Mark Wilson

January 27, 2008

Title hopes hang by a thread!
Glentoran 2 Lisburn Distillery 2The Glens played Distillery for the 7th and thankfully last time this season, however what the Glens weren't’t thankful for, was the 2-2 result that has almost extinguished any ambitions they had to lift the Gibson Cup this season.

Michael Dougherty making his 16th appearance of this season replaced the injured Elliott Morris (wrist) in nets. A really lightweight bench also saw NI Schoolboy International keeper Wayne Drummond and Glentoran youngster Peter Steele included.

The poor conditions that saw a strong swirling wind, took its effect on both sides as they tried to adapt and this contributed to a 1st half that was to be a non-event.

However this was no excuse as the visitors adapted the quicker, and had an early effort through Browne, that the Glens keeper was only able to parry.

The Glens lacked any direction or spark, and never really threatened the Distillery goal, and it really came as no surprise, when Distillery took one of their rare chances to open the scoring. A defence splitting pass by Browne played in Waterworth to slide the ball past the helpless Glens keeper on 42 minutes, and seen the ‘Whites’ go in at the break with the lead under their belt.

Half-Time Glentoran 0 Lisburn Distillery 1

Whatever the manager said to the players at the half-time team talk must have had the desired effect with the home coming out all guns blazing and within 38 seconds of the restart, they had leveled the scores.

Good interplay down the right by Nixon and Scullion saw the winger cross to the far post for Neill to power home a header to make it 1-1. Indeed moments later the Glens could have taken the lead, when a throw out by the keeper released Scullion who ran almost two thirds of the pitch to fire an effort that Matthews in the Distillery goal did brilliantly to tip over.

But as in many home games this season, the Glens failed to have the will or creatively to build on this, and the game fell back into the predictable pattern of plenty of possession and pressure without the cutting edge (we badly need another striker!!!)

And again this resulted in the ‘Whites’ taking another rare chance to restore their lead. This time another defence splitting pass beat a static Glens defence to give Kingsberry the easiest of chances of curling the ball in from 10 yards on the hour mark.
The Glens rallied with a half chance by Halliday, and Hamilton then saw a free tipped over with over twenty minutes to go, but you just couldn't see where the goal was coming from. The manager then made changes bringing on Fitzgerald and Boyce (from a really lightweight looking bench), for Fordyce and Halliday.

Boyce looked to take on the attack, and after Distillery defender Thompson went off injured after a challenge with Boyce, the ‘Whites’ defence started to look decidedly shaky, and on full time the Glens finally made a deserved break-through when Neill fired home after a Hamilton free kick, for the defender to score his 7th goal in 25 appearances this season for the East Belfast side.

This lead to a frantic five minutes of injury time that saw the Glens search for a winner, and the Glens wasted chances when Hill broke clear to fire an effort just past the upright and Scullion unbelievably blazed an effort over from 6 yards when it looked easier to hit the target.

But it wasn't’t to be and with both Linfield and Cliftonville securing late wins, the League challenge is almost gone with now the Irish Cup the only avenue for a further trophy this season, and with another away trip to Dungannon, that is going to be a difficult ask.

The manager needs another defender, midfielder and more importantly another striker, but with 6 days of the transfer window remaining is anything likely to happen on that front?? So we may be resigned to another unsuccessful season, and will have to wait until the summer to see how the manager will strengthen the side for next seasons challenge.

Full-Time Glentoran 2 Lisburn Distillery 2

January 25, 2008

Glentoran winger Rory Hamill has joined Donegal Celtic on loan until the end of the current season. The former Fulham, Coleraine and Dungannon Swifts player is expected to make his debut for the Irish Premier League strugglers in Saturday’s league game against Newry City. A four-time Irish Cup winner, the 31-year-old has retained his option on a further one-year deal with Glentoran and aims to make an impression on Glentoran boss Alan McDonald during his time with Donegal Celtic.
Hamill says he is “relishing an entirely new challenge” in his career. “I have been given the opportunity to play first-team football at Donegal Celtic and that is what I need at this stage of my career. It’s an exciting challenge, one that will be new to me. I have spent most of my career playing for clubs that were in the mix for titles and trophies but I am under no illusions about what is needed at Donegal Celtic,” he said. “I have been fortunate to have spent most of my career challenging for titles and trophies.
This opportunity though is somewhat different but equally as exciting. I will do my very best for Donegal Celtic to help push the club away from the bottom of the table." Celtic hit the foot of the Premier League on Tuesday following a 4-2 defeat to fellow strugglers Larne. But with Hamill joining along with Glenavon striker Colm Kearney today, manager Paddy Kelly, is confident his side can turn fortunes around. “We have 'cup finals' lined up for the rest of the season in order to survive and who better than Rory Hamill to turn it on in the most demanding of arenas.
He gives us the edge we have been lacking and I’m sure the players and the fans will respond to his arrival with great anticipation.” Hamill will train with his new team-mates tonight but is already familiar with Pat McAllister, Celtic’s assistant manager, striker Sean Armstrong and defender Noel Cardwell, whom he played alongside at Coleraine. Part of the loan arrangement between the two clubs may prevent Hamill from featuring in the forthcoming league game at The Oval and in the Irish Cup should Glentoran and Donegal Celtic be drawn to face one another.
Celtic boss Kelly said: “Rory Hamill has shown he wants to play football and that he isn’t above a dogfight. He’s one of the glamour players of the Irish League and it may be a surprise to many that he has decided to join Donegal Celtic. But he has showed us a great deal of respect by doing so. “We are consistently in the market for players of Rory’s caliber but it’s not always easy because we just in the league a second season and are not up there challenging for honours.” From DC-FC.com

January 17, 2008

Two Glentoran players make a return to their previous Club.
Two Glentoran players make a return to their previous Club. Despite expecting a tough replay in the cup against Lisburn Distillery, the Glens easily brushed them aside with a 3-1 victory, and they now look forward to another expected hard away game against Dungannon Swifts in the League who could possibly be our 6th round opponents in the Irish Cup in three weeks time. The game will see Shane McCabe and David Scullion make a return to their old stomping ground. Darren Boyce after his impressive debut at the Oval last Saturday will want to add to his tally of 8 goals he achieved with Coleraine (their top scorer to date)
Saturday will only see the Glens play Dungannon Swifts for a 3rd time this season! The1st two games resulted in a draw in the league and a single goal victory in the q/final of the CIS cup. Harry Fays’ Dungannon Swifts have had a poor season compared to last season and have only won three of their last 9 games. At the end of October they beat Linfield 4-0 that saw their best run of the season (3 wins in a row).
They currently lie 9th in the league with 19 points from 16 games, with 5 wins, 4 draws and 7 defeats to their name, scoring 27 and conceding 29 goals. With only just under 40 goals scored this season to date, the much traveled Shea Campbell appears to pose the main threat with only 5 goals to his name this season. Mark McAllister has chipped in with four, and even our own Shane McCabe with three. With Linfield away to Portadown and Cliftonville away to Armagh this Saturday, the team will have to be focused, as a win at Stangmore Park could be a turning point in the challenge for the title.
Domestic Playing Records of both teams this season to date; (Played Won Drew Lost Win %) Glentoran P 31, W 24, D 3, L 4, 77%, Dungannon Swifts P 26, W 9, D 6, L 11, 35%
Previous Meetings between the Clubs this Season; 6-October 2007 CPL Glentoran 1 Dungannon Swifts 1 23-October 2007 CIS Q/F Glentoran 1 Dungannon Swifts 0.
Review by Mark Wilson