29th Feb 04. err ... Yesterday's match has been called off :-)
27th Feb 04. No Tickets Required - Victory for common-sense! Tickets will now NOT be required for Saturday week's Irish Cup Quarter-Final at the swamp, it's 'pay at the gate' for all, £8 adults and £4 concession. Now how hard was that?
Cliftonville game - Three times we've met the Reds this season, most recently a 1-1 draw in the League up at Solitude, and previously twice in the League Cup, with 2-0 and 1-0 victories for the Glens. I must be gettin old too, nobody was more surprised than me when I realised it's been 12 attempts and 5½ long years since the Reds won at the Oval. That was way back on October 6th 1998, a 1-0 defeat to the then League Champions! God that must seem like an eternity ago now for manager Marty Tabb, as his team sit second bottom in the table, and only for the fact Glenavon have no boots, would be staring relegation to the first division in the face! They did manage to pull off a 2-0 win over Coleraine last weekend, but they'll need more of that if they're to avoid a relegation play-off .... that was their first win in 10 games!
But what about us? I reckon if I bring my boots to the Oval on Saturday I might get a friggin game! I've no idea how the list of injuries is shaping up after Wednesday's trip to Newry, I can only hope the manager was saving some of them for the Cup-tie next week. Knowing Coyler though I doubt it very much, if anybody else gets hurt tomorrow I'm liftin the ball !!
Match Betting: Glentoran 1/2, Cliftonville 11/2, and a draw 13/5. All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers.
26th Feb 04. Armour out! - Never friggin rains does it !! Darren Armour must now sit out the Irish Cup quarter-final, and any potential replay, through an IFA suspension. The Glens forward has picked up a 2 game ban beginning Monday.
Cup tickets - Ok folks - here's the latest far as I can tell. Tickets for Saturday week's Irish Cup Quarter Final have still not been released. Apparently the Glens have questioned the reasoning (and rightly so), behind one set of supporters (namely us) requiring tickets for the game, while the others do not! As of 11.30am this morning, the situation remains unresolved, so until you hear otherwise just sit tight.
25th Feb 04, 10.20pm. Newry Town 0 Glentoran 0 - Glentoran Seconds more like! The Glens had yet another two players missing tonight, Damien McLoughlin promoted to the starting eleven in place of Darren Armour, and Jason Hill coming on from the bench. We really were down to the bare bones, missing were Armour, Andy Smith, Tim McCann (II), Locky, Michael O'Neill, wee Scotty ... and Tim McCann (I) only made it on for the last few minutes from the bench! With McLoughlin and Halliday a new pairing up front we were always gonna be a little bit lightweight, and so it turned out. We looked lively enough, but everything we did seemed to come through midfield, with wee Tommy McCallion having the best of our chances. After starting really well though we failed to get that breakthrough, and let Newry creep back into the tie. Elliott Morris had his crossbar to thank at the interval for keeping the sides level. The second period though was all Glentoran, we controlled 90% of the play, but still that goal wouldn't come. The longer it went on the more Newry were hanging on, the home side determined not to lose it rather than trying to win the match. Shots rained in from Tommy McCallion, Paul Leeman and Kevin Keegan, but mostly straight at Stuart Addis in goals. It must be said though, the supply to the front men was almost non-existent, the quality of the crossing all night long was absolutely shocking!
A lively enough display from the Glens, I thought only one team was ever gonna win the game, but options for the manager are starting to become extremely limited. We really do need to get some of those players back - and fast!
Newry Town game - First done this write-up back at the end of January - but here goes again ...
Hands up who knows the last time we lost to Newry Town? No? Well it was way back on 8th November 2000 - some 14 meetings ago! If you recall it came at the Oval too, in the first game of a two-legged Gold Cup Semi-Final, we lost it 1-0.
A fortnight later we went off to the Marshes and turned them over 3-1 to go through to the Final 3-2 on aggregate. That was the last year of the famous old Gold Cup, and the final against Coleraine at the swamp turned out to be a 4-3 classic - yet another trophy for the Glens :-) The last time we lost away to Newry incidentally was in 1999! I wonder has anybody told the Mouth :-) Yes new manager McCreadie will be hoping to put that record straight tonight. It must be said though, the only 3 games Newry have lost at home all season were by a single goal, and to each of the top 3 clubs!
As for us, well we haven't lost a League match since Boxing Day now. Six wins and a draw has seen us climb back up to 5th spot in the table, 6 points behind Distillery. Not bad I suppose considering we were 14th just six short weeks ago! How things can change eh. Mark Glendinning is also available again after suspension, maybe just as well too after Tim McCann (II) took that knock at Larne on Saturday. I expect Andy Smith should make a return as well. So, hopefully another good performance and result to keep confidence high, we must keep the momentum going with that Irish Cup match now only 10 days away. BTW - Remember kick-off tonight is 7.45pm.
Ballymac's bus leaves Wilgar St at 6.15pm, you're welcome to come along, other buses can be found at the link above.
Match Betting: Newry Town 7/2, Glentoran 4/6, and a draw 5/2. All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers
24th Feb 04. I see ... the scum could only draw 2-2 at home to Ards tonight .... Here comes the big choke folks - and just in time for our Irish Cup match next week :-)
23rd Feb 04. Irish Cup Quarter-Final - Glentoran supporters will require tickets for next weeks Irish Cup Quarter-Final at the swamp. Presently only the upper deck of the North Stand has been made available, but following a request from the Glens it is hoped both upper and lower sections will be released for sale this week. Priced £8 and £4, it is hoped they will be made available from Wednesday. More details hopefully tomorrow. At this moment it is still unclear whether or not scumfield supporters will require tickets for the same game ... and if not - then why do we?
Same old song ... Nothing much to write home about over the weekend. The match at Larne was a bit of a damp squib, 3-0 up by the 22nd minute mean't the social club and local pubs seen more punters in the second half than the football did! Seems now too the IFA claim the recent Glens player list blunder, was simply 'an outdated print-out' - aye dead on - there's more than just a few print-outs outdated in thon place! More press speculation too about an Andy Smith transfer, with Wimbledon, Crystal Palace, and errr ... Buson Icons! (South Korea, I kid you not), all apparently watching.
On the League Table front, I notice we're now just 6 points behind 4th placed Distillery, and with 9 games still left to play. More interestingly though, the full impact of that Gary Smyth shambles really is only about to kick in. When you take into account we were deducted those 5 points and the Whites were awarded 2, we'd actually be ahead of them at the moment, AND be just 7 behind 2nd and 3rd placed Portadown and Coleraine, with a game in hand on the Bannsiders!!
22nd Feb 04. Larne 1 Glentoran 4 - Michael Halliday, Colin Nixon, Paul Leeman, and Tommy McCallion.
20th Feb 04. Larne game - Off for a wee visit with Mr Devine and co tomorrow folks. November 6th 2001 was the last time we travelled over the hills to Inver Park, that was for a County Antrrim Shield first round tie, and the Glens hammered them 4-0. We've played Larne once this season though, in the League. That one was at the Oval back in November when we also won, this time by a single goal. At that time the Premier League new boys were there or thereabouts at the top of the table if I remember correctly, but have faded badly since then, falling into the bottom half. Winning only one from their last six League and Cup starts doesn't hold well at this crucial stage of the season.
As for us - as you were I reckon. Andy Smith no doubt will make a return to the starting line-up (or will he), probably at the expence of Michael Halliday, otherwise Mark Glendinning is still suspended, and our injured parties will most likely remain out. Apart from that 4-0 result three years ago I don't recall it ever being too easy down on the tight Inver Park pitch, and with Larne in real danger of being sucked into that relegation play-off place, I wouldn't expect that to change tomorrow.
Ballymac's bus leaves Wilgar Street at 1.45pm folks, and there are a few other buses to be found at the link above.
Match Betting: Larne 10/3, Glentoran 4/5, and a draw 11/5. All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers
18th Feb 04. Andy Smith ... starts tonight in Northern Ireland's friendly with Norway, he partners David Healy up front.
Stuarty Elliott has made the bench. Update, 9.20pm: David Healy gets Northern Ireland's first goal for 13 games! Unfortunately they were gettin beat 3-0 at the time - it finished 4-1.
County Antrim FA cough up - In spite of the £20,000 gate receipts being stolen from the Oval a fortnight ago, the County Antrim FA have decided to cover the loss, and all 4 semi-final clubs will receive their share of the spoils.
Can of worms? ... Well let's get it open then! - Ok, here we go. There have been a few murmurs doing the rounds this past few weeks of something big brewing. Now, I don't know whether you read the article Bluecom had in last night's 'Tele', but there's a couple of lines in particular I want to draw your attention to:
"Recently we requested records from each body, the Irish FA and the Irish League, to clarify that all our registrations were up to date and correct," said Oval chairman Stafford Reynolds. "The initial records that we received showed variances with our own records, and it was not until we were given the records a second time that we were fully satisfied."
Well now, I believe it's not exactly 'what' Stafford say's here, as much as what he doesn't say! Fact is, I hear the reason the Glens weren't satisfied with the first set of records, was because there were a number of the players on the initial lists who are NO LONGER Glentoran players!! Hardly our problem of course - but if that is indeed the case, and these players were registered as Glentoran players at IFA/IFL, (and bear in mind this is only a few weeks ago), then I thik it's safe to assume they were NOT registered with who they are playing for now? And I hear we may not be the only club!
What's good for the goose I say, so who else should be losing league points and getting kicked out of Cup competitions? We have a representative on the IFA's Senior Clubs Committee haven't we? Time to get those records checked Mr Chick!
Or do we just roll over .... again!! Even players at Portadown wouldn't take a bet on that one!
17th Feb 04. Glentoran 2 Loughgall 0 - Yet another very frustrating evening at the Oval, with 2 goals in the second half from Michael Halliday and Andy Kilmartin finally seeing us safely through! Match report can now be found HERE
Loughgall game ........ again! - If at first you don't succeed ...........! Another chance for the Glens to reach that Irish Cup quarter-final spot. I'll be pleasantly surprised if Andy Smith gets released to play tonight, and still no SAS, Locky, or Michael O'Neill. Tim McCann looks doubtful once again too, so we really are down to the bare bones at the minute. Even so, you'd like to think we'd be in with a fairly decent shout of going through at the Oval wouldn't you?
The bookies certainly do .......... have a look at those odds below!! Kick-off tonight's 7.45pm folks, cya there :-)
Match Betting: Glentoran 1/8, Loughgall 20/1, and a draw 9/2. All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers
Update - Sanchez say's no way, he has plans for our Andy tomorrow night, so Smith misses tonight's game.
16th Feb 04. Smith for replay? - It seems Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez is considering a request from the Glens, Coyler wants him to release Andy Smith from International duties to be available for our Cup replay on Tuesday.
14th Feb 04. Loughgall 0 Glentoran 0 - We've played better that's for sure, but I doubt the Loughgall keeper has!
Photo's of the game and match report have now been moved to HERE
13th Feb 04. Loughgall game - Irish Cup day again folks ....... aahhhh the memories :-) And if we can see ourselves
safely through this one, we'll only be two more games away from what would be our 5th Irish Cup Final in 7 years! How many times has this competition saved our season .......... oh were it just to happen one more time. Enter Loughgall. So what do we know about the Co. Armagh side? Well first off I vaguely remember heading down here way back in 99, in a pre-season friendly - I also vaguely remember getting duffed 3-2! No more about that then. Loughgall currently ply their trade in the First Division, along with Carrick Rangers, Bangor, the Welders and co. They're doing ok too, sitting second at the minute, and pushing Bangor for a place in the Premier League next season! Surprised? Well here's another surprise, I've had a wee look at Loughgall's fixtures this season, of the 10 games I can find they've played at home they've lost only once, 1-0 to Ballyclare! In the other 9 they've knocked in 30 goals and conceded just 12.
So much for a stroll in the park tomorrow eh. Well if the Glens ever needed a warning about meeting junior opposition in the Irish Cup, they need look no further than our tie in this very round in 2000, the SAME season incidentally we lost that Loughgall friendly, AND once again in County Armagh!! It took a Stuarty Elliott goal in what must have been the 96th minute to earn the Glens a 2-2 draw against little Armagh City that day, what a bloody fright we got back then ...... although we did go on to win the cup :-) But if you were at Armagh City that day you won't wanna go through another one of those in a hurry I can tell you! Hopefully we've learn't our lesson. So what's the team tomorrow? Does it really matter, on a tight wee ground I'm sure they've been diggin up all week? No. There are a few doubts though, Michael O'Neill probably won't make it, and I hear Tim McCann's a bit iffy a well, couple that with Locky now being long term and the team will probably pick itself! So long as we're in the hat at a quarter to five though ...........!
Oh, by the way, should the game go to a replay next week, it'll have to be without Mark Glendinning. SAS has been suspended for 2 games from Monday in the IFA's latest hit list.
Ballymac's bus leaves Wilgar Street at 1.30pm, why not come along for the craic. Other buses at the link above.
Match Betting: Loughgall 7/1, Glentoran 3/10, and a draw 7/2. All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers
12th Feb 04. Bit dead innit? - Might as well read the latest rant from Fear-Us then ........ HERE
10th Feb 04. Congratulations - to Paul Leeman, his missus Rowena just presented him with a new Daughter - Grace.
Some few weeks he's havin eh? Somebody give Sanchez a bell and tell him to stick Leeper in the Norn Iron squad :-)
Kick-off time? - Just noticed the IFL website have our Irish Cup tie with Loughgall this Saturday down as a 2.00pm kick-off. Well relax, just been on to Glens Secretary Alex McWilliams and he assures me it's 3 o'clock. Just on that, I hear it'll be £6 and £4 in, but with very limited seating, and parking has been allocated on all weather pitches next to the ground - at £2 a touch! There'll be grub available at a few outlets, and you'll also be delighted to hear the watering holes will be open before the game, during half time, and after the game :-) The Glenmen are coming!!!!
Wha'd a tell Ye! - The Irish FA have just informed clubs left in the Irish Cup, that any 6th round replays can now be played in the same week as Northern Ireland's International friendly with Norway, a complete turnaround from a letter sent out to clubs by the IFA in August 2001! Another bloody cop-out - but only when it suits eh!
9th Feb 04. Leeper award - Paul Leeman has just been named the 'Football Writers' Player of the Month for January. The Glens midfielder/defender has now won the award twice in his career. He scored 4 goals during the month as the Glens went 6 games undefeated, so I suppose we might even forgive him for missing that bloody sitter on Saturday!
8th Feb 04. Glentoran 1 ........ Dungannon didn't! - I'm away back to bed :-(
6th Feb 04. Glentoran Rangers!! - I can reveal today that Glentoran FC have held talks with Queens Park Rangers,
with a view to forming a link-up with the Nationwide League 2nd Division 'Giants'. QPR Chief Exec David Davies reveals; "We have spoken to Glentoran, but it is still unsure what would be happening, possible coaching of players etc, similar with our tie-in with Milwaukee Wave". I also hear there's the possibility of a friendly as part of a QPR pre-season tour!
Oh happy days - there really is a God :-)
Dungannon Swifts game - Ok, forget Wednesday - it's onward and upward. Tomorrow it's back to where it all began, 16th August 2003 and first game of the season. Dungannon Swifts at the Oval, and exhibition stuff as the newcomers left East Belfast wondering what had hit them after an 8-0 mauling by the Champions! Who'd have thought at a quarter to five that night, that 5 short months later we'd be in the predicament we are now. There's 11 games still to go in this League, and already it's looking like we could soon be going through the motions till Irish Cup ties arrive. What a really disappointing season after last year :-( Well, we may have clawed ourselves to the brink of safety in the table, but Dungannon are still down there and have it all to play for. We've done pretty well against the Swifts in our 3 encounters this season, after that 8-niller at the Oval we've travelled to Stangmore Park twice, winning 2-0 and 4-1. They seem to be making a real battle of trying to stay in the top flight next season though, they even beat high flying Coleraine 3-2 at home on Wednesday night, but their away record leaves a lot to be desired. Of nine away games in the League this term they've only managed to win one, 1-0 way back in October at Seaview! As for the Glens, I suppose we'll have big Chris in alongside Gary Smyth at centre half again, and Leeper back in the midfield, otherwise - well we don't really have a lot of options do we? We've only lost two players, wee Scotty and Darren Lockhart, yet already we're looking pretty thin on the ground - where the hell did all that 'cover for every position' go to! No matter, we battle on. A draw between Ballymena and the Whites at the Showgrounds is about the best we can hope for elsewhere tomorrow, that would see us leapfrog the Sky Blues into 5th place, and close the gap to 7 points on Distillery in 4th .... yeah I know, clutching at straws :-(
Match Betting: Glentoran 2/5, Dungannon 13/2, and a draw 3/1. All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers
5th Feb 04. Coleraine ... got duffed 3-2 away to Dungannon in the League last night.
4th Feb 04, 11pm. Glentoran 0 scum 1 - Well what's to say? Nothing much between the sides, and it was always gonna be a goal the winner on the night. First half the Glens struggled into a gale and had few chances, we turned it around a bit in the second period, but definitely missed Leeper and Locky in midfield. Tommy McCallion, Michael O'Neill, & co were just too lightweight. I have to say though, the goal that won it was worthy of being the winner in the end ....... just a pity it didn't go into the other net :-( Much more commitment from the team it has to be said from the last time the sides met, but I'm afraid that old swagger from last season came too little and too late. Another one bites the dust.
Could be worse though ... could be a Spurs fan! At home in the FA Cup, 3-0 up at half time to a Man City team down to 10 men, and who have won only 1 game in their last 18 ... You lose 4-3!! What about that one for a bummer - eh Roy :-)
Shield Semi - If ever there was a case for giving a club a trophy to keep, the Glens would surely be cast iron certs with the County Antrim Shield! Since losing to the Whites 5-4 on penalties, in a first round tie at the Oval way back on 18th November 1997, Glentoran FC have lost just a single game in this competition. Twenty two ties we've been involved in since that distant Distillery blunder, scoring a remarkable 63 goals along the way .......... and conceding just 7! You'll also be delighted to hear that we've knocked the scum out of the competition 4 times in the last 5 years! Just give us the damn thing :-) Nothing much more to say really is there ........... except of course that this is another one of those trophies we happen to be holders of - and I'm reliably informed intend to keep. Kick off is 7.45pm ......... bring it on!
3rd Feb 04. Ballymac Poll - The 'Move to Comber' Poll on the site above is now closed. I think it's served it's purpose. Some 235 of you registered your vote on the issue, less than one in three of whom in favour! The results will be forwarded to Glentoran FC. It would seem fairly evident from the result that pressing on with a move out of East Belfast (if that is indeed the plan), would be foolhardy to say the least, without first consulting the fans. We're told the Board's 'professional' advisors predict gate increases in the region of 50 - 100% when a new facility is built, maybe so ......... if it was built in Mersey Street! How many did the Whites pull in? How difficult would it be for the Glens to conduct their own survey, just hand out a few fliers at the turnstiles outside the Oval next week - or is it too far down the road for that :-(
Newry Game ......... on 17th February has just been called off - told ya :-)
Shield Semi - We get to find out tonight who we'll be playing in the County Antrim Shield Final this year, as Ards meet Ballymena in the first Semi-Final at Seaview :-) UPDATE - Ards won 1-0
Tomorrow's early betting: Glentoran 8/5, Linfield 8/5, and a draw 2/1. All odds by TOALS bookmakers
2nd Feb 04. Fixture change? - What a crap weekend, rained that friggin hard you couldn't even get out of the bar :-)
I hear now the recently announced new date for our postponed match with Newry could run into diffs too. Tuesday 17th February has already been earmarked for the match, but read a wee article in the press yesterday seems to cast some doubt on that. Northern Ireland have a friendly against Norway the following night (18th), and IFA rules state that no local fixtures can take place during the same week as an International, so don't book that bus for Newry yet! Even better though - how clever of the IFA then, that they have also arranged the 6th round of their premier competition - the Irish Cup, for Saturday 14th February! You see their rules also state, that any Irish Cup replays must be played within 4 days of the original tie - and guess when that would be? It wouldn't mean the IFA might have to bend their own rules now would it? Surely not! Yet another classic from the original clownhouse! HERE
