On Saturday we welcome Carrick Rangers as we look to put the memory of September’s agonising 2-1 defeat at Taylor’s Avenue behind us.
Carrick Rangers manager Stuart King will be hoping that having defeated Glentoran at Taylor’s Avenue earlier in the season can inspire his side to end their current run of 3 consecutive league defeats.
Getting results away from home has been a particular problem for Rangers, conceding 30 goals in just 7 games on the road and picking up only 4 points. They currently lie in 8th position in the table, recording a total of 13 points from their opening 14 games.
In their only league visit to the Bet McLean Oval last season, Carrick were beaten 5-0 in early October; trailing 4-0 at half time thanks to goals from Aidan Wilson, Jay Donnelly, Shay McCartan and Conor McMenamin before Paddy McClean added another with 15 minutes remaining in the second half. Their last point at the Oval came in a 0-0 draw in February 2020 and their last victory came in April 2018, when second half goals from former Glentoran full back Lee Chapman and Eamon McAllister cancelled out James Ferrin’s first half goal to secure a 2-1 win.
Rangers main goal threat will come from former Glentoran forwards Danny Purkis and Curtis Allen - currently with 5 and 3 goals respectively - along with Captain David Cushley. Manager King will have to do without our former midfielder Joe Crowe, however, after he received a straight red card in Saturday’s home defeat to Glenavon and experienced centre back Albert Watson who has been missing from the line up since their 4-3 win at Loughgall in early October.
Warren Feeney: “Obviously last week’s draw at Seaview was overshadowed by the nasty and very unlucky injury to Bobby, but although I was disappointed to only come away with one point there was a lot to be positive about. We had to rearrange with Singo having a one game suspension and Paddy a groin strain, but I was very pleased with how we played and dominated the first half. The defence was very solid and the midfield well in control and we deserved it when we went ahead through Jay. But I was disappointed in the chances we missed and felt we could have been three or four ahead by half time. Jay had a great game and it’s good to see the likes of Cameron Palmer really asserting themselves as they get their match fitness up. Also Josh hasn’t had many starts but I though he did very well and put in a strong shift at Seaview.
On Bobby, thankfully it’s not as bad an injury as we feared. He had surgery on Monday which went well for him. It’s still going to have him out for a lengthy period but the injury is not career threatening so we know we’ll have a fully fit Bobby Burns back in action this season. That’s important as he is a great character with a great mentality and was playing superbly well in our adjusted system over the past few weeks. We’ll be giving Bobby every support, help and encouragement as he works himself back up to full fitness.
I was pleased to see Aaron Wightman back for the Seconds on Monday, though he’ll need a couple more matches at that level to get his match fitness up. Also Harry Murphy did well, David Fisher got a couple of goals and Ollie Webber kept a clean sheet. So we’re gradually getting ourselves back to having a full-strength squad for the first time this season.
Clearly we’ll be taking Carrick Rangers very seriously after the result they got over us last month. They’ll be feeling good coming to the Oval but we’re going into this one in much better form than the last game at Carrick and on a good run of results so we’ve put the last defeat well behind us. The mentality is improving in the squad and we’re looking forward to a run of games in November, including a semi-final also against Carrick, where we’re looking for strong performances and results to match in all the games.”
Remaining tickets for this game can be purchased HERE.
To reiterate the club’s recent statement, we strongly request that supporters respect the rights of the local residents by parking well away from housefronts in the immediate locality. There is plenty of available parking at the Holywood Arches Heath Centre.
