Saturday 21st October
Kick Off 3.00pm
On Saturday we welcome Glenavon to the Bet McLean Oval in match thirteen of the Sports Direct Premiership.
Glenavon have endured a very disappointing opening round of the league campaign; picking up just 7 points from 12 games played and seeing long serving manager Gary Hamilton depart after more than a decade at the helm.
Results have not improved so far under his replacement Stephen McDonnell, with 11 goals shipped and 0 points gained from their last 4 fixtures. Scoring goals without last season’s top scorer Matthew Fitzpatrick has been a major problem, with only 10 scored and only basement side Ballymena United having managed fewer.
While the Lurgan Blues enjoyed their league visits to the Oval last season - recording a 0-0 draw with 10 men in a rearranged game played at the end of February before winning 2-0 on the 11th of March - they were soundly beaten in May in the Semi Final of the European Playoffs. That night, first half goals for Luke McCullough and Conor McMenamin set us on our way, before a Robbie Garrett og and a strike each for the Donnelly brothers sealed a 5-0 and passage to the Final.
Former Glentoran defender Calum Birney has missed the last 2 league games after being forced off in the 0-4 home defeat to Larne, while former Linfield full back Niall Quinn may be a doubt after being substituted in last week’s defeat to Cliftonville.
Warren Feeney: “ Last week’s 6-0 win over Loughgall was a much better performance and a much more pleasing night for everyone around the club. Hopefully, it gave our supporters the same boost it gave the rest of us. We were very strong all over the pitch and relentless in front of goal. That’s the sort of performance and mentality we need to be looking to deliver every week.
Among other things Luke’s return was a big benefit to us, for a number of reasons. First, results show that we’re a better team when he plays and brings his experience to us. Also this was the first time we’ve had Luke, Aidan and Paddy available at the same time this season so that allowed us to try a different formation against Loughgall. That involved moving a number of players around and I thought all of them responded very well to the challenge and to their new roles. Given that we’ve struggled to put games to bed in the past few eeks also I was very pleased to see we had five different scorers on the night.
Gradually our long-term injury numbers are coming down with players like Sean Murray, Rory Donnelly and Harry Murphy returning to the squad in recent weeks. All three played in the Seconds win over Linfield Swifts on Monday night and did very well in a very competitive and hard-fought match. Rhys Marshall and Aaron Wightman are still a bit away but Seanan Clucas is back in training after his groin operation and he’ll also give us a boost when he’s available in a few weeks.
Glenavon are not in a good place in the table right now but we all know they are always capable of a good challenge no matter where the game is or no matter how they’ve been playing. With Gary now gone after such a long spell there and Stephen McDonnell in as manager I know their players will be working hard to impress him. They gave us a tough game at Mourneview in the first game of the season so we’re under no illusion we’ll need to have the same approach and mentality we showed against Loughgall to be sure of getting the three points.”
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.
