OLD NEWS - JANUARY 2008
31st Jan 08. Donegal Celtic game - Can anybody remember the last time we beat theseuns? Well I can tell you we haven't beaten them in the League since they gained promotion in 2006 - that's a record for us of lost 1 and drawn 2 in three attempts both home and away! We did manage to account for them in double-header CIS Cup group fixtures a couple of years ago, but 2 points from a possible 9 in the League tells it's own story :-( And it's unlikely to get any easier for us tomorrow night either. Donegal Celtic find themselves is a 6-way dogfight at the wrong end of the table, and although they've lost only one of their last five, too many draws are keeping them down there - they did manage to lift themselves off bottom spot on Tuesday night though with a 3-1 home win over Limavady. We on the other hand now find ourselves 6 points off the pace after Tuesdays results elsewhere, and badly need a result to either close the gap on Cliftonville or put some daylight between ourselves and Distillery, (Cliftonville play Distillery tomorrow night). That said however let's remember WE aren't exactly setting the world alight at the minute either, and although most will agree the football's been a wee bit easier on the eye this season (at times), worth noting we've won just ONE League game from FOUR in January for the third season in a row! Anyway, let's look on the bright side ... just received confirmation the social club's going to be open :-) KO 7.45pm.
Match Betting: Glentoran 2/9, (YES 2/9!!!), Donegal Celtic 17/2, and a draw 4/1. All odds by William Hill
Burrows for the Glens in summer - 22 year-old Dundela striker Matthew Burrows has signed a pre-contract agreement to come to the Oval next season. Full story c/o BBC Sport ... HERE
30th Jan 08. GCT NOW ON GLENTORAN BOARD! - Glentoran Community Trust nominee Stephen Henderson last night became the first representative of the GCT to be democratically elected to the Board of Directors of Glentoran Football Club. Indeed, not only was Stephen elected, but he topped the poll with over 2,500 votes! With 6 positions on the Glentoran Board up for grabs, and 3 candidates from the GCT competing, the biggest gathering of shareholders of the Company in my lifetime turned out last night for the high-profile meeting. Success for the GCT's other 2 nominees, namely Stephen Beattie and myself, was always going to prove difficult given the current powerbase and voting structure of the Company, but all the hard work during the pre-election campaign proved not to be in vain, and the largest supporters group the club has ever known now have a direct link and voice in the boardroom at the Oval. Congratulations to Stephen on his well-deserved success, and a personal thank-you from myself to all the Glenmen and Women who turned out in such numbers to vote for us.
29th Jan 08. GFC Annual General Meeting - Almost forgot there's the small matter of an AGM tonight down at the Oval. Given all the hype, 6 elections to the Board, and ahem, events in the 19 months since the Glens last AGM, it promises to be the best attended meeting down there since the ground (not) sale EGM nearly 5 years ago! What about a wee sweep? Closest guess to the number of votes I get without going over wins a seat beside me in the social club during the second half of the DC game on Friday nite :-) (and it has to be at least 5 because I have that many myself)
27th Jan 08. Halfers - The Halfers Draw v Distillery was won by Shankill Road Glentoran fan Isabel Lonagan, who took home £440 when Shane McCabe pulled her ticket no. 9342 from the Big Green Box. - Tommy McKee
(Maybe you'll be able to pay me back that tenner I lent ya on the Ballymac bus last week now Izzy ;-)
Glentoran 2 Lis Distillery 2 - Well that's that then, so when's the next Irish Cup match :-(
25th Jan 08. SOCCER SIXES tickets available at the Oval ... Tickets will be on sale at the Oval tomorrow for the Paul Leeman Testimonial Irish League Legends "SOCCER SIXES" event at the Dundonald Ice Bowl this Monday night 28th January. Priced £12 & £10, and just £6 for concessions & OAP's, tickets are also still available from a host of local outlets for what should prove to be a great night out in East Belfast. Further details including a list of teams and players is available at the Paul Leeman Testimonial link above or by visiting the SOCCER SIXES website directly @ www.nisoccersixes.com/
Distillery game - Given this'll be the SEVENTH time we've played Distillery in FIVE months you'll forgive me if I give the pre-match write-up a miss - other than any more silly points dropped now and European qualification really could be in serious jeapordy. Match Betting: Glentoran 1/2, Distillery 5/1, and a draw 5/2. Odds by Eastwoods.
24th Jan 08. Hamill away ... McDonagh too? - Rory Hamill has today confirmed he has gone on loan to Donegal Celtic until the end of the current season. Another interesting one I heard tonight though, although could be just a rumour, is news that Willo McDonagh may also be off, on loan to Coleraine. As I say, Hamill confirmed, McDonagh not.
23rd Jan 08. Dungannon 2 Limavady Utd 1 - Dungannon it is folks ... cant wait :-(
22nd Jan 08. Irish Cup opponents ... We get to find our tonight who we will face in the 6th round of the JJB Irish Cup, as all 3 outstanding 5th round replays look set to get the go ahead. Away to Dungannon Swifts or Limavady United on February 9th ... mouthwatering stuff :-( UPDATE - Dungannon / Limavady postponed til tomorrow night ... I can't take much more ;-)
Setanta & St Pats Athletic - Just a quick note the Ballymac WILL be running a bus to the Setanta Cup clash with St Pats Athletic in Dublin on Monday 10th March. Departure time has yet to be decided and will be posted here once confirmed.
20th Jan 08. GLENTORAN COMMUNITY TRUST - SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING - Due to technical problems in updating the GCTni.com website, I have been asked by the Board of Glentoran Community Trust to inform all members that an emergency General Meeting of the GCT has been called for Thursday 24th January 2008. Members are asked to look to their email or postal communication for more.
Dungannon Swifts 0 Glentoran 0 - Would the REAL Glentoran please step forward? Such a great turnout of Glentoran fans too. I think FRUSTRATION is the word for the day :-(
18th Jan 08. Dungannon Swifts game - Think we'd all settle for something similar to the last time we visited Stangmore Park, winning 4-2 in October 2006. We'd certainly settle for it alright, coz since Dungannon Swifts came up into the Premier League back in 2003 we've only managed to beat them down there twice in 4 attempts. Matter of fact we've only managed to beat them 5 times in 9 League attempts home or away, the only draw a 1-1 encounter at the Oval earlier this season. It was us of course knocked them out of the CIS back in October, but even that one was tight enough with the Glens scraping home 1-0 in the Quarter-Final at the Oval. Dungannon are also about as unpredictable a team as you're likely to get. So far this season they've accounted for Linfield 4-0 at home and Portadown 1-0 away, but have then went on to lose 3 of their last 4 home games to the likes of Limavady Utd, Distillery, and most recently a 6-4 reverse two weeks ago to Newry City - fitting a 4-1 tanking of Coleraine in between! The Swifts currently sit mid-table with 19 points from 16 games, and while they do tend to score a fair few goals, the fact they concede even more means mid-table is likely to be where they'll finish. We on the other hand have different aspirations, only 3 points seperate us from top of the pile now, and with Linfield and Cliftonville away to Portadown and Armagh respectively tomorrow, this visit to Dungannon, difficult as it may be, could be a great opportunity to cash in and keep the pressure on. Hopefully that midweek Irish Cup display against the Whites will have the lads buzzing going into this one and we can pick up another vital 3 points - there are still some 12 games to go after this. Ballymac's bus leaves Wilgar Street at 1.30pm if you fancy coming along, I'm sure the team would appreciate all the support they can get in the tight Stangmore Park ground. Betting: Dungannon 7/2, Glentoran 4/6, and a draw 9/4. Odds by Eastwoods
17th Jan 08. Glens, Blues & Derry in Setanta Sports Cup once again!
Glentoran, Derry City, Linfield & St Pats - Dungannon, Drogheda, Cork & Cliftonville.
Glentoran Fixtures: St Pats (a) Mon 10th March, Linfield (h) Mon 7th April, Derry (h) Mon 14th April, Derry (a) Tues 2nd Sept, Linfield (a) Mon 15th Sept, & St Pats (h) Tues 23rd Sept. Dear oh dear :-(
16th Jan 08. Lis Distillery 1 Glentoran 3 - Never in doubt. Every single one of them worked their socks off here tonight for a thoroughly deserved victory, a very professional job throughout. Two nil at half time thanks to a Daryl Fordyce double, but really it should have been a lot more. Michael Haliday hit the bar early on and missed a couple of others when well placed inside the area, Kyle Neill nearly hit the corner flag from 8 yards, while Gary Hamilton had a couple of great efforts well saved and seen another skim the top corner stanchion ... and those are just the ones that immediately spring to mind! More of the same really after the break, and when the lively David Scullion got clipped in the area around the hour mark Colin Nixon stepped up to put the issue beyond any doubt from the spot. The only save I recall Elliott Morris having to make came when the Glens then went to sleep a bit and the Whites pulled one back with about 15 to go, but to be fair the guy did strike it well into Morris's bottom right-hand corner. Big Mac will be delighted with this performance after Saturday, and we can now look forward to either Dungannon or Limavady in the 6th round - the former first of all in a League game this Saturday.
15th Jan 08. Irish Cup replay - 7.45pm kick off tomorrow night folks, and the Ballymac bus will be leaving Wilgar Street at 7.00pm. Match Betting: Distillery 9/4, Glentoran 11/10, and a draw 11/5. All odds by Toals
14th Jan 08. Setanta Cup - The draw for the 2008 Setanta Sports Cup is to take place this Thursday at the SAS Radisson Hotel in Dublin Airport. In a break from previous seasons the competition will change format in 2008, beginning in February and ending in October. The first round of games will be played on February 26th, with a total of three series of games being played by April 15th. The competition will then break until September 1st, when the remaining group fixtures, semi-finals and final will be played. As champions of their respective leagues, Drogheda and Linfield will both be seeded.
Halfers - The draw for Tim McCann's benefit was a huge success and although the draw is very generously supported every week, more tickets were bought on Saturday by supporters than has been for some considerable time. This underlines the affection that Glenmen have for Tim and epitomises the goodwill from the best supporters in Ireland. The winner drawn by Tim was Neil Bell from Ballygowan and Neil won £700 with the ticket 4855. Neil very kindly and without hesitation handed back £50 of his winnings to go towards Tim's share. Tim has asked me to thank everyone and is absolutely delighted with the gesture. Tommy McKee
13th Jan 08. Glentoran 0 Lis Distillery 0 - If ever there was an argument for NOT reducing the number of sides in the Irish Premier League then this was it. FIVE times now in FIVE months we've crossed swords with the Whites, and before this month is out it's gonna be SEVEN - these 2 sides now know each other so well it's like meetin in the park on a Sunday! So much so that yesterday - THE IRISH FRIGGIN CUP NO LESS, was about as entertaining as a trip to the friggin dentist! And another thing, SIXTEEN QUID for a parent and a 4 year old?!!!! Forget about the quality of football on display, hopefully McDonald will put a rocket up their arse before Wednesday's replay, but do you really think a tenner a scull and 6 quid for a 4 year old is gonna encourage any of those "Irish Cup Casuals" (never mind the regulars) back? Course we know we're short of a few bob, nobody denies that, but there are right ways to do things and then it appears there is the Glentoran way. Glentoran fans in my opinion are without a doubt amongst the most genuine, sincere, generous and forgiving souls on this earth, God knows we have to be, yet time after time we are left feeling so let down and deflated by the very thing that bonds us all together - GLENTORAN FOOTBALL CLUB! Why oh why do we always have to feel like we're being treated like $hite! I'm sorry, but you are so out of touch with your own fanbase Glentoran it really beggers belief! I make this plea from my own heart, apologies to the Ballymac. The GCT are running 4 candidates for the forthcoming Glentoran AGM, myself and the others are putting our necks on the block for some of the very reasons outlined above, for YOU. This is not a coup, far from it, we want to work with this board, but we are deeply deeply concerned for this football club and the direction it is going. I urge ALL Glentoran fans, if you have a vote at this forthcoming Glentoran AGM, please please please use it wisely. Our club is at a crossroads, I fear you may never get this opportunity again. Time for change.
11th Jan 08. Boyce in, Hamill & Ward out - The Glens have made their second signing in the January transfer window. Coleraine midfielder/winger Darren Boyce put pen to paper this morning on a 2½ year deal, with a further 1 year option at the end of it. Boyce, 22 next week, was still under contract with the Bannsiders, and while the player himself was happy to join the Glens some days ago an undisclosed fee had still to be agreed between the two clubs. Darren now goes straight into the squad for tomorrows Irish Cup tie with Lisburn Distillery. Welcome to the Oval Darren :-) Michael Ward and Rory Hamill however look to be on their way out the Oval door as Glens manager Alan McDonald placed them both on the transfer list this morning. Dungannon, Ballymena, Donegal Celtic, and Coleraine themselves are rumoured to be interested.
Oh by the way folks, I hear the friggin bar's shut at the Oval tomorrow :-(
JJB Irish Cup, Lis Distillery game - ELEVEN TIMES winners in the last 25 years ... fair to say we've had some pretty good days out in recent times courtesy of the Irish Cup - all the more impressive too when you then realise that it hasn't had Red, Green & Black ribbons on it for 4 years, and I for one miss it terribly :-( So, sorry Kirker, but I'm afraid Distillery will just have to go out ;-) The Whites (who last won the trophy in 1971) would have wished for a better draw I'm sure than the Glens at the Oval though, the last time they won here was in a County Antrim Shield tie over 10 years ago ... and even then they had to do it on penalty kicks! Indeed since they won the first Division Title in 2002 the visitors have managed just two 0-0 draws at the Oval in 11 attempts, although they have notched up 2 wins against us at Ballyskeagh. Wee buns tomorrow then? Well frankly, despite a seemingly poor record, I don't recall a single one of those games being easy, and having beaten them 4 times already this season I'm sure they must reckon they're well overdue! I hope not. Ok then so what about our lot? Mixed bag but here's the latest tonight:
Colin Nixon - 4 stitches in an ankle after that bad tackle last weekend, but fit for Saturday.
Daryl Fordyce - Trained 4 nights this week and barring a reaction by the morning is fit.
Sean Ward - As above, trained 4 nights this week and is fit.
Philip Carson - Groin injury, will be out 2-3 weeks yet.
Ryan Berry - No broken bones as first feared, but has ligament damage. Will be another 3-4 weeks at least.
Philip Simpson - Fit again, but with no Second's games due to weather in last 3 weeks can't get a match.
SAS - Remember him! After successful surgery Sas returned fit last week, was looking forward to gaining match fitness with Seconds but unbelievably fell off his bike on Monday and damaged ligaments in his ankle!
So there you have it folks, some good news some bad, but at least this week a better squad for the manager to select from ... oh, and don't be too surprised if we've another new face on display for this one ;-) Keep your ear to the ground.
Match Betting: Glentoran 1/2, Distillery 5/1, and a draw 5/2. All odds by Sean Graham bookmakers.
BTW, for all new accounts William Hill online are currently offering a £10 free credit when you place a £10 - £25 bet, or £25 credit when you place a £25 + bet. William Hill are also offering 11/2 for Northern Ireland to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
8th Jan 08. Halfers Draw - The Directors of Glentoran have very kindly agreed to give the club's share of the Halfers profits from this Saturday's Irish Cup game with Distillery to Tim McCann. Tim has been forced to retire from the game after another horrrific injury, but Glens fans can show their gratitude to Tim for his sterling service to our club by buying a Halfers (or 2) knowing that he will get half of the takings from the Draw. It's a great way of showing Tim how much he was appreciated. Please buy a draw on Saturday and support a Glentoran Legend! Tommy McKee
6th Jan 08. Armagh City 0 Glentoran 5 - Gary Hamilton hat-trick, Michael Halliday, and a Jason Hill penalty right at the death rounding off a great display at Holm Park to take the Glens back up to 2nd place in the table. A very professional showing all round and just what was needed after the New Years Day disappointment at home to Ballymena. Elliott Morris must'a got an absolute 'founderin' in the second half cos I don't recall Armagh even having a shot ... and even the elusive Willo McDonagh (remember him) got a run-out! Results and Table pages now updated.
5th Jan 08. UPDATE - 10.30am - Armagh City v Glentoran today is definitely ON. Ballymac bus goes at 1.30pm.
Chris Morgan's Newry City ... leap-frogged Portadown into 6th place in the table last night with a 6-4 away victory at Dungannon Swifts. Hard as it is to believe, Micky Collins, in his second outting for his new club ... got sent off!
3rd Jan 08. Armagh City game - Remember the last time we played Armagh down there in January? 28th January 2006 it was, Roy Coyle's last game in charge and we got tanked 5-2! Mercifully things have improved somewhat since that day (against Armagh anyhow) 3-0 & 8-0 to the Glens last season, and in 3 meetings this term 6-0, 2-0, & 1-0 wins for the Glens. No goals conceded in the last 5 encounters then, but I recall those last 2 wins fairly vividly and they were tight enough I can tell you, especially that 2-0 win in the CIS at Holm Park back in September. They're a bit of a mixed bag this season Armagh, and sit 11th in the table on 16 points after 16 games, 19 behind us ... but don't be fooled. The 'Eagles' took just a solitary point and lost 4 of their first 5 League starts, but those losses were against ourselves, Cliftonville, Linfield and Portadown, they've settled well since that and went on to lose just twice in their last 8 outtings. No mugs. As to ourselves, well, defeat against Ballymena not only saw us drop further off the pace at the top of the table, we now also have Ballymena and the Whites breathing up our arse for third place! Every point between now and the end of the season has become absolutely priceless and securing European football at the Oval next summer has to be the very minimum we should be aiming for! Still awaiting an update on injured Ryan Berry, Philip Carson, and Daryl Fordyce, but the availability of new signing Shane McCabe certainly has to be welcome news at the moment. Another hard one - 3 points a must. Ballymac's bus will be departing Wilgar Street at 1.30pm and once again all visitors are very welcome to travel. Other clubs buses are available at the bus link above. Match Betting: Armagh City 11/2, Glentoran 1/2, and a draw 13/5 ...
Irish Cup Betting: Linfield 13/8, Cliftonville & Glentoran 4/1, Portadown 10/1, Distillery, Newry & Ballymena 33/1, Crusaders 40/1, Dungannon & Coleraine 50/1, Glenavon & Limavady 150/1. E/W half odds 1st/2nd. All odds by TOALS
2nd Jan 08. Glentoran AGM - Glentoran Football and Recreation Company Ltd (GFC) have today announced that the Company's next Annual General Meeting will take place on Tuesday 29th January at the Oval. There will be 6 of the 7 places on the Glentoran FC Board of Directors up for grabs on the night, Chairman Stafford Reynolds is the only non-retiring Director and stays, while competing for the 6 vacancies will be current Directors Ted Brownlee, Aubry Ralph, Jim Rodgers & Ian Kerr, together with Ms Maura Muldoon, and Glentoran Community Trust nominees Stephen Beattie, Stephen Henderson, Sam Robinson and yours truly Jim Welsh!
I would also take this opportunity to remind all GCT members that the 'GLENTORAN COMMUNITY TRUST' Annual General Meeting takes place at the Park Avenue Hotel next Monday night, 7th January, commencing 7.00pm sharp.
Glentoran 2 Ballymena Utd 4 - Disappointed doesn't even come close. Ok, we lost young Carson and Berry to injury yesterday (one in each half), but hey, let's be honest here folks, as nice as it's been to be a Glenman this past week or so, did any of us really doubt we'd been boxing well above our weight? While huff and puff and playing for the shirt is a very welcome development indeed from recent seasons, at the end of the day the quality in depth just isn't there. Gary Hamilton is without a shadow of a doubt the best in the country, the most talented player I've seen at the Oval in 20 odd years, I think he was given just 3 chances yesterday and put one of them away. Supply to the master finisher unfortunately is poor at best, the quality deliveries from the wings all come from Hamilton himself. He also needs a quality partner. Our midfield, while refreshingly full of youth and endeavour is quite frankly lightweight, and we all know we desperately need a big no-nonsense centre-half. Our squad depth is also going to be sorely tested in the coming weeks. This is not by the way me having a pop at any particular player, it's just sometimes you gotta call it how you see it. As they say though, what you want and what you get are usually very different things. Money no doubt is one major obstacle for big Mac in strengthening the team, and availability of the desired quality player another. I think if we are all honest with ourselves European football and maybe a decent Irish Cup run would be a pretty good return given this is big Alan's first season, anything else for me would be a bonus. That's not to say we should throw in the towel in the League of course, because I think both Cliftonville and Linfield will have their slip-ups in their remaining games ... problem is, so I'm afraid will we. I'd dearly love to be proved wrong. I do firmly believe however that we are going in the right direction, and there are good times ahead, I just think we're gonna have to wait just a wee while longer :-(
Halfers - Well at least two Glentoran Fans went home happy after the disappointing result against Ballymena. John Sheil of the BallymacGSC claimed the Boxing Day prize of £660, and young Mark Anderson took £530 home all the way to Coleraine after Dean Fitzgerald drew his ticket no 4644. Happy New Year to all the Draw's supporters!! Tommy McKee
1st Jan 08. Cliftonville/Ports off - Todays Cliftonville v Portadown League clash at Solitude has been called off due to a waterlogged pitch (now there's a surprise)! Upshot of that decision though is that should the Glens defeat Ballymena at the Oval we would sit no worse than second in the table by close of business today (albeit with the Reds having 2 games in hand). We'll have to do it without Daryl Fordyce of course, but I have no news yet on the fitness of Gary Hamilton or Elliott Morris. New signing Shane McCabe by the way will not feature in today's clash as I'm reliably informed he didn't sign within the IFA's transfer criteria - ie. 12 o'clock noon the previous day of a match. Happy New Year everyone :-)
Match Betting: Glentoran 4/7, Ballymena 9/2, and a draw 5/2 ...
