Friday 18th February
7.45pm Kick Off
Tomorrow we follow last week’s memorable Big Two victory with our third visit of the season to Inver Park for our fourth meeting of the season with Larne.
While Larne have enjoyed positive results in Cup competitions since winning 3-2 at the Oval on New Year’s Day - winning the County Antrim Shield Final against Linfield and also knocking the Blues out of the Irish Cup to reach the Quarter Finals - it has been a disappointing spell in the League for the Invermen; winning 2 and losing 4 of their last 6 games to slip behind Crusaders and into 5th place, just one point ahead of Coleraine.
One notable claim that Larne did have at present, however, is they are now the only side in the IPL who Glentoran have not claimed a league victory against this season.
The previous meeting at Inver Park this season was a 1-1 draw at the beginning of November. Larne opened the scoring just after half time via our former midfielder John Herron but, with 20 minutes left on the clock, top scorer Jay Donnelly netted in front of the away end to secure an important point. In the five meetings between the sides at Inver Park since Larne returned to the IPL in 2019, there has been one home win, two draws and two wins for the Glens.
Despite the mixed run of results since his signing, striker Lee Bonis has already scored five times and is almost certain to lead the line again tonight for the home side. There has been a recent change in goalkeeper selection, with Conor Devlin having reclaimed the No1 jersey from Rohan Ferguson. Full Back Tomas Cosgrove could be a doubt after going off injured in the defeat to Crusaders last weekend, while experienced defender Cian Bolger and midfielders Mark Randall and Ben Doherty will be pushing to return to the side after coming on as substitutes in that game.
Mick McDermott: “Last week’s win over Linfield was the result of a greast effort, commitment and performance by all the players. Despite the fact that it was our third game in just six days the energy levels of our players were excellent from start to finish. I thought we were very dominant in the first half in particular but Linfield have a tradition of digging out results under difficult circumstances so we did very well to keep control and get the result our players and fans deserved.
We’re all looking forward to another highly competitive game in front of a full house. Larne are a quality team and have the ability to play great football.
We go there with a desire and commitment to collect three points: but we know that requires a massive performance. We know our amazing fans will create a brilliant atmosphere - as always. I encourage them to do what they’ve been doing so well - ‘Be Loud…. Do Us Proud’
Credit must be given to Larne what they have done for their community over the past 5 years under Kenny Bruce and at this time when it appears that our politicians are failing us, we as clubs, fans or as members of our communities need to raise our voices to demand action. Government does not exist to tell us what they will do TO us. Government exists to show us what they will do FOR us! Time for us to demand their action!”
