31st Aug 05. New Away Kit - For any of you who didn't get to see it on BallymacGSC.com first time round I'm posting it again, although I'm told the Glens crest has now been moved onto the 3 'hoops' and the Danepak logo now underneath in black embossed lettering. We're told it'll be available for purchase from Friday week (9th Sept) - have another look HERE
30th Aug 05. Glentoran 2 Armagh City 2 - Locky (before he went off injured and was replaced by Gary Browne), then a Morgan penalty 15 minutes from time (a'la England 66 off the underside of the bar) after we'd by then fallen 2-1 behind!
It has to be said very scrappy stuff at times, yet again - is there such a word as 'awfullest'?. No matter, a 1-1 draw at Institute v Coleraine means the Glens did just enough qualify for the knock-out stages. Leeper made a welcome return to action tonight too. BTW - Kelbie came on as a sub for Ballymena in their 1-1 draw at Newry - he didn't score ... ahem.
Kevin Kelbie ... has signed a 1 year deal at Ballymena United.
Armagh City game - Did we not play these'uns last week? Anyway, Armagh City again it is, knowing a win qualifies us for the quarter-finals of the League Cup and we can put the Second string out if we like for the last two group ties ... given our growing injury list we may have to play most of them tonight! Joining Scott Young, Pat McGibbon, Paul Leeman & Peter McCann are of course now Chris Walker and Jody Tolan! On the plus side wee Scotty did play for the Second's on Saturday, and I'm told Leeper gets back this week - scarey stuff though with the Premier League kicking off in just over a fortnight! This one's no gimme either by the way, I thought Armagh could have considered themselves unlucky not to get at least a draw out of us 10 days ago, we looked a bit disjointed that afternoon to say the least, now with these latest enforced changes God knows what shape we'll be! I suppose we'll see Morgan or new boy Browne in in place of Tolan, and knowin Coyler probably Parkhouse in at centre-half ;-) 7.45pm kick-off tonight folks ...
29th Aug 05. Bye Bye Kevin ... It'll come as no surprise to learn that Kevin Kelbie has finally had enough. It seems our Scottish friend has gotten pissed off warming the bench at the Oval since his summer arrival, and has asked to be released from his short-term contract so he can sign for Ballymena United before the transfer deadline arrives on Wednesday ... so what was that all about!
BTW, spoke to big Chris yesterday, ruptured ligaments - say's he won't be doing anything for at least 2 months!
28th Aug 05. Institute 1 Glentoran 2 - Jody Tolan stretchered off with cruciate ligament damage, and big Chris carried off with a suspected broken ankle! (turns out no break, but more ligament damage). What a bunch of thugs the guy Vandequin seems to have unearthed here, kicked the sh1t outt'a the Glens all afternoon they did, but despite a quality free kick from the home side after just 7 minutes, two headed goals from Locky and Halliday before half-time ensured the Glens stayed top of the CIS group table ... even if Nicky did manage to miss a penalty kick!
BTW ... I hope some of you took my advice and subscribed to the tipsters site RUOnTheBall.com ... they just had their second result in 4 weeks!
26th Aug 05. Institute game - One point from 2 games for Pascal Vaudequin's new look Institute side, having promised much in the close season after signing a host of Frogs! Let's hope they don't start to come good tomorrow eh!
I imagine most Glenmens' recent abiding memory of a visit to Drumahoe would be that 4-nil League Championship clincher back in April 2003 (awful day wasn't it :-), but much as it was a pretty eventful afternoon if I do say so myself, I also seem to recall us getting an extremely embarassing 3-1 runaround up there just 7 months later ... and in the pissing friggin rain too! Worth noting if you will, that result came just 2 months after we'd hammered the same Institute 6-1 in a League Cup Quarter-Final at the Oval !! Point is, NEVER EVER take this team for granted! So, looking at how the group table sits right now, a win tomorrow would almost see us qualified for the knock-out stages - 3 more points from our final 3 games to be sure. Be nice to be in that position so early on wouldn't it, if only to see the elusive Kevin Kelbie get a friggin game!
As to this weekend's line-up - well unless Leeper and McCann are on the mend it'll probably be along the same lines as at Armagh last week (ahem), although you'd like to think our new 'Professional' would be asked to kick a ball or two :-) Whatever, the Premier League opener at Ballyskeagh is just 3 weeks away now, and much as we ARE winning games, it's pretty obvious to all the shape of the team still leaves a lot to be desired ... thank God for CIS ;-)
Ballymac's bus will be leaving Wilgar Street at 12.45 if any of you fancy coming along - other buses at the link above.
Match Betting: Institute 6/1, Glentoran 4/9, and a draw 11/4. All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers
24th Aug 05. It appears he hasn't gone away ya know ... Kevin Kelbie gets a hat-trick for the Seconds tonight in a Steel & Sons Cup 3-0 win over Sirocco Works! Chris Morgan also got a run-out.
23rd Aug 05. Browne gets 3 year Professional deal! BBC and today's 'tele' are reporting that former Manchester City trainee Gary Browne has signed a 3 year deal at the Oval. I reckon there must be more strikers at the Oval now than at British Airways!
22nd Aug 05. Armagh 1 Glentoran 2 - Sorry for the delay folks, up to ma neck in Rest in friggin East! All day today as well! Gotta say though, but for Elliott Morris and some dodgy Armagh finishing we'd have came away rather red faced after this little outting ... and Mr Morgan warming the bench all day too. Early days I know, but really must do better.
19th Aug 05. Armagh City game - Haven't played newly promoted Armagh City since way back on 19th March 2001. Ironically it was in this competition too, League Cup quarter-final down at their place - we won 1-0. Surely the game that comes to mind for most Glenmen down there though, has got to be that Feb 2000 Irish Cup 6th round tie - Stuarty Elliott netting our equalizer in a 2-2 draw in the 95th minute! A day when we really should have been out of the competition, I still get nightmares about that one! Three times the sides have met since and we've won them all. Move on to 2005, and both teams with a win under their belt means whoever comes out tops tomorrow goes top of the group table. Don't know much about this Armagh outfit, except they raised a few eyebrows when they won at some peoples dark horses Institute last week. If they can beat us I'm sure quite a few more will start to take notice. As for us, Leeper and Peter McCann could still miss out, although don't be surprised if one or other makes the bench. The rest probably as you were for last week's Coleraine show ... although I think we could do with a slight improvement on that one don't you!
Anyways, be nice to be sitting top tomorrow night with 6 points outta 6 - Just on that, do you know we haven't actually lost in this competition in nearly 4 years? November 2001 to be precise. (We were expelled at the semi-final stage in 2003). Ballymac's bus will be leaving Wilgar Street at 1.30pm folks, you're very welcome if you wanna tag along. Other buses at the link above.
Match Betting: Armagh 5/1, Glentoran 1/2, and a draw 11/4. All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers.
18th Aug 05. Did any of yez watch that Northern Ireland crap in Malta last nite!! What an absolute shocker!
17th Aug 05. If yer not in ... Hope some of you took my advice and checked out the RUOnTheBall.com tipsters website last week ... only the second week of the season and already they've got a winner!!
16th Aug 05. McCallion heads north - It should come as no surprise to learn today that wee Tommy McCallion has indeed signed for Institute, 5 minutes down the road from home! We wish him well.
14th Aug 05. Glentoran 1 Coleraine 0 - Is that paint dry yet? Jeeeeeeeeeezzzzus! Need to sort that license out ASAP, you couldn't watch that all season without a liquer! Just as well there were only about 100 Coleraine fans there to see it!
12th Aug 05. Coleraine game - LET THE GAMES BEGIN ... just! There's been so much speculation about Coleraine this last few weeks, I don't think I've read anywhere that the Glens will actually be starting the defence of their League Cup in this opener! Football (on the pitch anyway), seems to have been forgotten lately, to some people it's been nothing more than an irritating sideshow! Well, far as I'm concerned Coleraine's problems have now been well and truly documented, they have my sympathy and I sincerely hope they can find a way out of the mess they're in, but from now on in here it's all about Glentoran FC. The new quest for Silverware starts tomorrow!
Anyone remember this fixture from last year? The Glens had already disposed of Allianssi in the UEFA Cup and were fresh from the narrow 1-0 home leg defeat against Elfsborg ... the early summer start certainly seemed to help our local game, coz we absolutely murdered Coleraine at the Showgrounds in the first match! (Match Report). Ok, this time round hasn't been quite so eventful, but you would still think having began our football on 2nd July and played NINE games already, we'd be well and truly prepared for this one again. Missing from action still will be Scott Young, joined in sick bay by Pat McGibbon recovering from a knee op. There were a couple of creaks and groans from the Letterkenny game as well on Saturday, but we're told nothing too serious, and with a first team pool now of 21 players I'd like to think there'd be adequate cover for the first game of the season! So, tally-ho children, here we go again, we topped our CIS group last year with 5 wins and a draw, scored 20 goals and conceded just the 5. I'd settle for that again wouldn't you ... and a quarter-final spot on October 4th ;-) Thank God it's back! No Glens betting from TOALS this week folks in light of the doubt surrounding the game ...
But here's the odds from McGranaghan's: Glentoran 8/15, Coleraine 5/1, and a draw 5/2.
Kevin Keegan ... it would seem has signed for Dungannon Swifts.
11th Aug 05. TeeTotal Oval - Just hope the Glens don't leave us biting our nails against Coleraine this Saturday, coz anything stronger than 7up or diet Coke and you'll have to head all the way down to the Welders again - bar's remain shut!
UEFA CUP - A whole host of old acquaintances playing tonight folks - FC Midtjylland, AC Allianssi, Litex Lovech ... not to mention Cork City and the scum! Catch up on all the goals as they go in at the 'LIVE' goals link above :-)
10th Aug 05. Wahayyy :-) Game on! A last-minute High Court deferral until August 30th for Coleraine's bankruptcy hearing, means the Bannsiders will after all be visiting the Oval this Saturday for our kick-off in the League Cup!
9th Aug 05, 1.00pm. Coleraine down and out! - Just heard the Inland Revenue have booted Coleraine's latest offer to settle into touch, and they now expect to go under at tomorrows' court hearing. I'm also led to believe that with the Glens v Coleraine League Cup match now up in the air, we have offered to play the Bannsiders in a friendly this Saturday ... and give them the gate receipts! All to be confirmed of course :-)
05/06 Squad Pics Updated - Just added new pics ... Philip Simpson, Mannus, MeLaugh, Walker, Tolan, Browne, Halliday, Kinkaid ... & Keegan (he hasn't gone away ya know :-)
McCallion / Keegan for Mourneview? - BBC say they're talking to Jimmy Brown (who has also just signed Shea Campbell)
8th Aug 05. Big kick-off - Looking forward to it immensely, and the defence of our CIS League Cup ... err ... be nice to know who we'll actually be playing though :-(
7th Aug 05. Glentoran 9 Letterkenny Rovers 0
5th July 05. An interview with ... Jody Tolan - courtesy of North Belfast News ... HERE
4th Aug 05. FREE TIPS!! - Pre-season English and Scottish Division winning tips have just been posted on football tipsters website RUOnTheBall.com! Anything for nothin eh ;-)
McCallion listed! - Right out of the blue this one - Tommy McCallion was last night surprisingly placed on the transfer list! That's him and Keegan both being made available to other clubs with still a full year left on their contracts!
Absolutely bewildered by this one! Ps - the Kincaid appointment has now been made official.
3rd Aug 05. Glentoran 2 Carrick Rangers 0 - Colin Nixon & Jody Tolan before half-time. Although yet to be confrmed, word tonight was that ex Glenavon boss Tommy Kincaid has been appointed Coyler's no 2 - swapping with Jimmy Brown!
2nd Aug 05. Coleraine in serious diffs! - I hear the Inland Revenue have just today kicked into touch Coleraine's latest offer of an arrangement to clear outstanding debts. The club now face a winding-up order at Belfast High Court tomorrow! Word is the gates could well be locked at the Showgrounds after the Milk Cup Final this weekend!
Were you in Elfsborg? - If so I've found a cracker link for ya :-) The wee giggle below got me thinking ...
If you recall, Elfsborg's new Stadium, the 'Borås Arena' was in the process of being built directly behind their old ground. I've managed to find a site with pics of the work in progress right up to April this year! Just take the following link then click on any of the thumbnail pics to view ... 14,500 seater, synthetic pitch, and just 8 million quid! - what a difference! HERE
Relax - it's just the 'Seconds' - Just to clarify a rumour that's been doin the rounds this last few days - It's Glentoran
SECONDS who are playing at Comber Rec tonight, NOT the first team. Kick-off time I don't know, probably around 7.
(Letterkenny Rvrs have been confirmed for the Oval this Saturday, ko 3pm. Same admission rules apply as Carrick game)
1st Aug 05. Website updated ... New pen pics of ... Locky, Leeper, Walker, Morgan, Kelbie, McCann, Nicky, Morris, Halliday, Holmes & Ward. All available at the 'Squad' link above - the rest to follow ... and no theivin!! ;-)
Glens v Carrick Rangers friendly - this Wednesday night at the Oval, ko 7.30pm. Season Tickets are once again valid, otherwise it's a fiver and 3 quid in.
