Glentoran v Dungannon Swifts
Saturday 25 th August 2018, Kick Off 3pm
On Saturday we entertain Dungannon Swifts. Last season we had a goods record against the Swifts with three wins and an away draw. In the corresponding match in August 2017 we had a 2-0 home win with goals from Curtis Allen and John McGuigan.
Swifts got their first point last week with a good home draw with Cliftonville following defeats by Ballymena United and Newry City. Among their close season signings are Corey McMullan, who joined after a season here at Glentoran, Mark McAllister, back at his first club after a decade, and Mark Patton from Glenavon.
Ronnie McFall: “Although it was frustrating to lose a late equaliser against Coleraine last week, there were a lot of encouraging signs in our performance. I don’t think anyone would have said we didn’t deserve the win if we’d held out for the last couple of minutes. We proved against Coleraine – just as we did against Linfield and Cliftonville at the end of last season – that we can take an early setback and fight back well against the top teams in the league. Last week we were very much the better team for the whole second half and were very unlucky to lose the late goal.
The challenge is to see out the last few minutes against teams like Coleraine because I’ve no doubt we have it in us to beat anyone in the league when we play like we did last week as long as we keep our shape and focus right to the end. It’s all about progress and I’ve no doubt that the way we’re setting up and working, we’ll consistently keep improving as the season goes on. The central defenders look very solid and I think Conor Pepper has settled in very well and looks like he’s been a fixture here. Curtis and John McGuigan have both started well in the attacking areas and I was very pleased to see Peter McMahon get off the mark with such a fantastic goal.
We had a good home win against Dungannon in April and that should give the team plenty of confidence going into this one. However I know Rodney McAree has done a fair bit of business this summer so they’ll be a strong proposition and we’ll give this match all our concentration and commitment right from the start. For today’s match I’m pleased that Robbie McDaid is now fully fit and can come into consideration. I wasn’t prepared to take any chances with Robbie because he’s a very important player for us and after the strong way he finished last season I’m expecting a lot from him this season. Everyone else is fit and available.
There’s only a week left of the transfer window and we’re still working hard to strengthen the squad. I said at the start of the summer that I wouldn’t recruit for the sake of it but I’d work to only bring in players who would improve the first team in the areas we need it most. I think we’ve done that so far and between now and Friday we’ll still be doing everything we can to finish the job. We’ve got a good squad of players here but there are just one or two areas where we can make a significant improvement to the balance of the squad. That’s what we’re looking to sort”.
Photographs by PACEMAKER
Prior to kick off a minute's silence will be held in memory of Northern Ireland and Burnley legend, Jimmy McIlroy, who started his career at the Oval before moving to Turf Moor.
This week’s match sponsor is Polemic Digital, founded in 2014 by industry veteran Barry Adams, is a specialised search engine optimisation consultancy working with brands to improve visibility in Google search results. Their clients include some of the world's largest media companies such as The Sun, The Daily Mail, and Fox News. In 2016 Polemic Digital won the UK Search Award for Best Small SEO Agency and were again shortlisted for this award in 2017. In 2018 they won the DANI Award for Best SEO Campaign.
Polemic Digital is based in East Belfast since the beginning and feel a strong connection to the area and Glentoran football club. They are proud to get behind Glentoran this season with their logo on the back of the shirt, and are delighted to sponsor today's match against Dungannon Swifts. Find out more on www.polemicdigital.com .
The Board of Directors at Glentoran Football Club would again request that all supporters travelling to the Oval by private car consider the local residents whendeciding where and how to park. Local parking is freely available at the Arches Health Centre.