Shermanez

Tue 23.11.04
Wakehurst Vs Glentoran – Warden Street, Ballymena
County Antrim Shield Qtr Final.

Glentoran 3-5-2: Elliott Morris – Jodie Hill, Gary Smyth, Stephen Gourley – Marc Wilson, Scott Gordon, Richard Stanfield, Kevin Keegan – John McAuley, Jason Hill, Tommy McCallion.

Weather: Dry, 5°C

The County Antrim Shield meeting with Wakehurst gave me the opportunity to give a number of first team fringe players a run out. Elliott Morris continued in goal and Stephen Gourley came into defence. In midfield, highly rated youngster Marc Wilson was given his first team debut whilst Scott Gordon, Richard Stanfield and Kevin Keegan played across the middle. Gordon and Stanfield both featured heavily in last season’s title campaign but have yet to feature this season. In attack, John McAuley, Jason Hill and Tommy McCallion lead the line in what in reality was the reserve team strike force lining up for the first team.

Wakehurst’s form hadn’t improved since the draw and they remained wedged to the foot of the Second Division table, but as I said at the time, they beat Distillery 4-1 in the last round so we’d have to be on our guard. We were firm favourites in the bookies eyes though, with odds of 50-1 available for Wakehurst causing an upset. Surely not.

Definitely not. Even an under strength Glentoran side were too much for the Second Division club to handle and within twenty minutes we were three goals to the good. Tommy McCallion looked keen to impress and quickly rattled in two goals with John McAuley scoring a third. Chris Guiney pulled a goal back for the home side to make it 3-1 going into the interval. Minutes into the second half, he scored again and for five uncomfortable minutes things were a little too close for comfort until McAuley grabbed a second to restore our two goal lead.

The only dark spot of the evening was the sending off of Marc Wilson, guilty of a professional foul on Wakehurst striker Conor Warren. It was a little harsh but he was the last man so had to go. We finished the game with ten men and John Annett scored Wakehurst’s third deep into injury time but referee David Malcolm brought a close to proceedings as soon as the restart was taken. We were through the semi-finals.

Wakehurst 3 – Glentoran 4
Goals: McCallion 1-0, McCallion 2-0, McAuley 3-0, Guiney 3-1, Guiney 3-2, McAuley 4-2, Annett 4-3.
Attendance: 963
MoM: John McAuley (Glentoran) – Lead the line perfectly.

Shermanez

On the coach back to Belfast I received a call from a reporter at the Belfast Telegraph informing of interest being shown in Scott Young from Premiership side Southampton. The Saints were apparently keen to take the 27-year-old midfielder across the water to the English Premiership and after I informed Scott, I could see he was flattered by the interest. I didn’t want to lose him, and though no formal offer had been made, I wanted to make sure I received the correct price for his talents.

The draw for the semi final of the County Antrim Shield took place at the IFA headquarters and our reward for beating Wakehurst was another meeting with fellow Belfast side and Premier Division rivals Cliftonville. The game would take place at Linfield’s Windsor Park ground on Wed 09.02.2004.

Stafford Reynolds called to inform me that Paul Leeman’s contract was up for renewal in three months time. ‘Leeper’ has played a far more important role this year than he did last and I wasted no time in telling Stafford to begin negotiations immediately. The last thing we needed was to lose one of most important players midway through the season.

Shermanez

Sat 27.11.04
Glenavon Vs Larne – The Oval, Belfast
Northern Irish Premier Division #8.

Glentoran 3-5-2: Elliott Morris – Jodie Hill, Sean Ward, Chris Walker – Paul Leeman, Scott Young, Gavin Melaugh, Darren Lockhart – Tommy McCallion, Michael Halliday, Darren Armour.

Weather: Dry, 3°C

In an attempt to get Andy Smith back into the side, physiotherapist Jim Weatherup and his assistant put the injured striker through his paces in a hastily arranged fitness test prior to today’s clash with Larne at The Oval. They returned to the dressing room within ten minutes of leaving and I could tell from their faces that the news wasn’t good. I ordered Tommy McCallion to get changed because he was starting.

Larne are a club close to the hearts of Glenmen, simply because they pulled off the shock result in last season’s final game which allowed us to take the title ahead of Portadown. Their survival has given the club a boost and their early season form has been particularly impressive. Victories over Institute and Bangor amongst others have lifted the Inver Park club to third place, two places above Portadown and three above our arch rivals Linfield, who sat in sixth.

We had the better of the opening half and also the lion’s share of the chances but a culmination of lacklustre finishing and an impressive display from Larne ‘keeper Paul Wilson made sure the scores were locked at 0-0 as the half-time whistle blew. Tommy McCallion appeared to be struggling so much to his disgust I replaced him with Kevin Keegan. I also brought Tim McCann into the action in place of Michael Halliday in a bit to give us the kick up the backside that we obviously needed.

The move worked. Ten minutes after the break, a long ball forward from Chris Walker caused a mix-up in the Larne defence. Darren Armour capitalised and his low cross was rolled home by Keegan himself. The crowd went wild as Keegan celebrated in the corner. The scoring wasn’t to end there and goal number two arrived on the hour mark from the trusty boot of Scott Young. A neat interchange of passing between Young and Gavin Melaugh sent the midfielder clear and his cool lob left Wilson with no chance.

We were well in the driving seat by now and cruised to another fantastic three points. With news filtering through of Coleraine’s win away at Institute, a glance at the updated tables told us just how vital our win was. We sat atop of the table, level on points with Coleraine with 22. A seven point gap had opened from the chasing pack, with Linfield in third place on 15.

Glentoran 2 – Larne 0
Goals: Keegan 1-0, Young 2-0.
Attendance: 2,354
MoM: Scott Young (Glentoran) – The man just gets better and better. Southampton, hands off.

Shermanez

Paul Leeman sent a message on Monday morning confirming he would signing the new deal as soon as he could meet with Chairman Stafford Reynolds. With December arriving, I began to search for potential Bosman signings before the February/March rush. One player who had caught my eye was Portadown’s 25-year-old winger Wesley Boyle, a former trainee with Leeds United. Boyle’s deal at Shamrock Park came to an end on the 1st of July 2005 and if I could tempt his across to The Oval I’d be delighted. For now, I’ll sit tight and see how the situation progresses.

A new deal was also sorted with experienced centre-half Chris Walker, keen to stay at the club where he’d spent his entire career.

There was another welcomed piece of news on my desk from club historian Alan Wells. According to him, our 2-0 victory over Larne made it ten victories on the bounce, a new club record. The Belfast Telegraph ran a story covering the feat and it was nice to stamp my own little piece of history on this famous old club. Now all we had to do was keep it going.

Despite winning the League Cup and going unbeaten in the league, Coleraine’s Marty Quinn was given the nod for the November ‘Manager of the Month’ award for November. We did receive some recognition though, with Darren Armour’s lob against Newry earning him the ‘Goal of the Month’.

Shermanez

Sat 11.12.04
Distillery Vs Glentoran – New Grosvenor Stadium, Lisburn
Northern Irish Premier Division #9.

Glentoran 3-5-2: Elliott Morris – Jodie Hill, Sean Ward, Chris Walker – Paul Leeman, Scott Young, Gavin Melaugh, Darren Lockhart – Andy Smith, Michael Halliday, Darren Armour.

Weather: Wet, 3°C

The New Grosvenor Stadium was a dark, miserable and no place that anybody wanted to play much football as we took on Distillery following a fortnight’s break from league action. During the time, injury to reserve team goalkeeper Ronan Skelton meant Steven McGrath was drafted in from local football, registered with the league and was on the bench as backup. We had to hope that nothing happened to Elliott Morris.

Distillery were having a miserable season. Not only were they dumped out of the County Antrim Shield by Wakehurst, they sit cemented to the football of the First Division with just three points to their name. A repeat of last season’s ninth placed finish is looking increasingly unlikely. Home boss Paul Kirk has moved to strengthen his side with the signing of Portadown goalkeeper Martin Rea but injuries have limited him to just two appearances, and even then he conceded five goals. The signs don’t look good for survival.

We had other thoughts on our mind. Coleraine were at home to Limavady United but it was still too early to get wrapped up in what other teams were doing. We had to aim for three points and leave the worrying until later in the season. As long as we were in a position to challenge in March I was confident that a similar strong finish to this season as last would see the title stay at The Oval.

Andy Smith was back in the line up with a disappointing Tommy McCallion back in the stiffs. His return to the side had been a big let down, despite two goals in the cup against Wakehurst. It was pleasing to see ‘Smithy’ back and the travelling support gave him a great welcome as he entered the field to warm-up. He was a real crowd favourite.

It was easy to see why. Four minutes had past when he chased a loose ball and crossed for Darren Armour to head the game’s opening goal and then again, four minutes later, another ball into the box caused mayhem and Armour had made it 2-0. It was a frantic start and Distillery had yet to catch their breath. I was in no mood to let them up for air either.

It wasn’t all one way traffic and as the game progressed, the home side came back into it as a contest. Chris Coffey tested Elliott Morris and Conor Downey, I player I’d cheekily attempted to bring to The Oval on loan earlier in the campaign, showed his class with a couple of jinking runs. They were beginning to cause problems and Nathan McConnell’s goal in the 26th minute surprised nobody. Regardless, we carried on playing football and before long were rewarded when Paul Leeman did just what he does best, meeting a Scott Young corner to power in our third, 3-1 at the break.

The second half was a similar story, though this time we managed to keep the home side out. Darren Armour wrapped up his second hat-trick of the season in the 78th minute and as Distillery pushed for an unlikely comeback; Michael Halliday pounced to make it 5-1. With Coleraine beating Institute, we hung on to our place on top of the table, albeit thanks to goal difference.

A quick check of teletext told us that with 11 goals, Darren Armour was now the league’s joint leading goalscorer alongside Shea Campbell of Ballymena United.

Distillery 1 – Glentoran 5
Goals: Armour 1-0, Armour 2-0, McConnell 2-1, Leeman 3-1, Armour 4-1, Halliday 5-1.
Attendance: 4,727
MoM: Darren Armour (Glentoran) – Another hat-trick.

Shermanez

On Monday lunchtime, Stafford Reynolds and my assistant Jimmy Brown accompanied me to the Irish FA’s headquarters for the Irish Cup Fifth Round draw. We didn’t have to wait long; in fact we were the third ball out of the hat. It was a good draw, a home tie with First Division Armagh City. I was quietly confident of progressing. Before I left, BBC Belfast’s ‘Sports View’ wanted my views on the draw.

SV – “Stan, a home tie with Armagh City of the First Division. You must be pleased with that tie.”

SG – “Well it’s a home tie, so we’re pleased with that but to have made the Fifth Round you have to have something about you. Armagh are a strong side, pushing hard for promotion so it won’t be easy.”

SV – “I expect you’ll be sending a scout down to Holm Park to see what they’re all about.”

SG – “I expect so, but they’ll be doing the same with us. We’ll make sure we’re ready. Last season’s Final defeat still hurts.”

I managed to complete a signing on Tuesday. After months of us tracking his progress, striker Rick Adair joined for £1,000 from local non-league Belfast side Knockbreda Parish. Adair, a Glentoran fan “from birth” has 6 goals to his name so far this season. It’s difficult to see him forcing his way into the first team year season but he’s still on 21, so has plenty of time to develop. He also becomes the first player that I have paid a fee for.

Transfer In:
Rick Adair (S C, 21) – £1,000 from Knockbreda Parish.

Kevin Keegan picked up a training ground knock on the eve of Saturday’s trip to Cliftonville, and an inspection from Jim Weatherup revealed he’d sprained his ankle and would need at least two weeks away from the game to recover. Damien McLaughlin took his place on the bench.

Shermanez

Sat 18.12.04
Glentoran Vs Cliftonville – The Oval, Belfast
Northern Irish Premier Division #10.

Glentoran 3-5-2: Elliott Morris – Jodie Hill, Sean Ward, Chris Walker – Paul Leeman, Scott Young, Gavin Melaugh, Darren Lockhart – Andy Smith, Michael Halliday, Darren Armour.

Weather: Dry, 5°C

Since our last meeting in the League Cup Final, Barry Hunter had completed the signing of Crewe United’s young left full-back Tom McKenna. He did, however, start today’s game on the bench, with John Lynch continuing in that position. Cliftonville had gone unbeaten since the Final, and with striker Anthony Lagan in form, went in search of revenge at The Oval.

Things didn’t start as they planned though, as with just 37 seconds on the clock, Darren Armour shot from twenty yards to give us the dream start and knock Cliftonville onto the back foot. It was a goal right out of the top drawer and Armour wasted no time in charging over to my dugout to celebrate with myself, Jimmy Brown and the rest of my backroom staff and players.

Cliftonville were back level pegging before half-time, with Lagan scoring his third goal in three games. Jodie Hill was perhaps guilty of inexperience as Lagan raced around him and lashed a shot that Morris had little chance of stopping. Suddenly things weren’t going our way any longer and they got worse with Andy Smith needing to come off after a heavy challenge from a defender. McLaughlin was sent on in replacement. Before half-time, Lagan scored again and we found ourselves in the unfamiliar position of being behind.

Things didn’t improve in the second half. Chances came and went but in all honesty they were difficult to put away. The game’s best chance for a goal arrived deep into injury time, with Darren Armour heading point blank at goalkeeper Ben Mohan. On any other day it would have gone in, but today Mohan clawed out a hand and the ball came out. Our unbeaten run came to an end, Coleraine went top with a draw in Bangor and Cliftonville had exacted the revenge they wanted.

Glentoran 1 – Cliftonville 2
Goals: Armour 1-0, Lagan 1-1, Lagan 1-2.
Attendance: 5,700
MoM: Darren Armour (Glentoran) – Try as he might, he couldn’t quite force an equaliser but it was a fine performance regardless.

Shermanez

Wed 22.12.04
Ards Vs Glentoran – New Castlereagh Park, Newtownards.
Northern Irish Premier Division #11.

Glentoran 3-5-2: Elliott Morris – Jodie Hill, Sean Ward, Chris Walker – Paul Leeman, Scott Young, Gavin Melaugh, Darren Lockhart – Damien McLaughlin, Michael Halliday, Darren Armour.

Weather: Wet, 3°C

It was perhaps a blessing that the league scheduled a league date in for the Wednesday evening before Christmas as we were given immediate opportunity to make amends for Saturday’s defeat at home to Cliftonville. We’d already met Ards once this season, beating them 3-0 in the Semi-Final of the League Cup at The Oval back in October. On that occasion, both Andy Smith and Damien McLaughlin were on target. It was a different story today as McLaughlin replaced Smith who sat out with his groin strain.

Ards had one or two players in their squad with experience at a much higher level. Midfielder Davy Williamson had played for both Cambridge United and Motherwell before returning to his homeland and striker Lee Feeney had spells with Glasgow Rangers and Linfield before returning to his hometown club. In addition, 38 year old winger Steve Penney had 17 caps for Northern Ireland. Striker Darren Fitzgerald is a former Glenman, playing over fifty games in the three seasons prior to my arrival. He also had experience with Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers.

Thankfully, there was to be no repeat of Saturday’s defeat as we managed to get back to winning ways but it was a little too close for comfort in places. Darren Armour continued his astonishing run of form with his third hat-trick in as many months and further strikes from McLaughlin and Gavin Melaugh’s first of the season saw us run out 5-3 winners. Ards performed admirably, having by far the better chances and the most possession. However, we had a striker who is bang in form and if he continues to score at the rate he is now, he’ll easily manage to outshoot Andy Smith’s total of 24 from last season.

Despite the win, we spent Wednesday evening in second, one point behind Coleraine who managed a fine 3-0 win over Dungannon Swifts. There was now a nine point gap between us and third placed side Larne, with Linfield lying in fourth, just a point behind. It’ll certainly be an intriguing few weeks over the Christmas period.

Ards 3 – Glentoran 5
Goals: Armour 1-0, Melaugh 2-0, Hunter 2-1, Armour 3-1, McLaughlin 4-1, Fitzgerald 4-2, Gregg 4-3, Armour 5-3.
Attendance: 5,700
MoM: Darren Armour (Glentoran) – Armour takes it again, and it’s easy to see why with another hat-trick.

Shermanez

We trained on Christmas Eve, it was only a light session but Darren Lockhart still managed to twist knee in a game of five-a-side. He’d required two weeks rest and was expected to miss the games with Omagh, Linfield, Coleraine and perhaps even Institute.

Darren Armour’s contract had six months left to run, and considering his explosive form, negotiations for another deal started immediately. £175p/w was enough to tempt him to sign and he did, for another three seasons.

Wed 29.12.04
Glentoran Vs Omagh Town – The Oval
Northern Irish Premier Division #12.

Glentoran 3-5-2: Elliott Morris – Jodie Hill, Sean Ward, Chris Walker – Paul Leeman, Scott Young, Gavin Melaugh, Scott Gordon – Damien McLaughlin, Michael Halliday, Darren Armour.

Weather: Dry, 3°C

With both Darren Lockhart and Tim McCann, a rare start was given to Scott Gordon. Gordon featured fourteen times in the run-in to the title last year but has since struggled to get a game with the first team. He did play in the cup against Wakehurst and I’m hopefully he’ll be ok today as we take on Omagh at The Oval. Omagh manager Roy McCreadie would be pleased with the way the season was going. They were currently in ninth position, though had a sufficient points tally to perhaps launch a charge up the table.

After a slow start to the game, we opened the scoring in the nineteenth minutes. McLaughlin broke off down the left-wing, his cross was over hit but Michael Halliday managed to retrieve it. Again the ball came into the box and this time Armour was on hand to head his sixteenth of the year. Unfortunately, Omagh were soon back in the game. The players seemed to be suffering from a severe lack of confidence, and Andrew Crawford punished us, shooting low from 16 yards to beat Elliott Morris instead his post.

Before long Omagh had a 2-1 lead. Our defending was appalling as we allowed Michael Ward time and space to get a cross into the area. Morris half punched, Jodie Hill attempted to hack it clear but only managed to find Ian Clanachan who duly dispatched the ball hard ad low past our stranded goalkeeper. Half-time was welcomed.

I made a change at the interval. Off came McLaughlin and on went Tommy McCallion. I hoped McCallion hustle and bustle style of play would shake the Omagh defence up a bit. It certainly did just that, but any hopes of a late equaliser were dashed. Gavin Cullen was unbeatable between the posts saving from both McCallion and defender Jodie Hill. A late flurry of chances brought nothing and referee David Best called time on our second home defeat on our second home defeat on the trot. That seemed almost unthinkable a month ago.

The table was beginning to make painful reading. After such a fine start, Coleraine were beginning to pull away and Linfield were gaining ground. The gap between ourselves and the leaders had stretched to four, whilst six points were all that separated us from our arch-rivals. All the more importantly, Linfield were next up at The Oval in three days time.

Glentoran 1 – Omagh Town 2
Goals: Armour 1-0, Crawford 1-1, Clanachan 1-2.
Attendance: 2,891
MoM: James Stevenson (Omagh Town) – The Omagh midfielder had the better of Scott Young.

Shermanez

First Division club QUB made an offer for reserve teamer Chris Ward. Well, they actually offered to take him off our hands. In a bid to cut the wage bill, I’d made several reserve team members available for transfer free of charge and QUB were taking advantage. As long as they could come to an agreement over terms, Wards would be off to the Queens University.

There was more bad news on the injury front ahead of the big clash with Linfield. Tommy McCallion suffered a thigh strain in training and would be out for at least a week. Excluding McCallion, we now had Darren Lockhart, Tim McCann and several reserve teamers sat out with injury. Things were beginning to get difficult.

One player who wouldn’t be receiving a new deal when his current one came to an end was veteran defender Mark Glendinning. Mark’s deal ends in June and, after four fine years of service, I have decided that it’s time he found a new club. With youngsters coming through the ranks, Glendinning would struggle to get a place in the side.

Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo collected the World Player of the Year award for 2004. Valencia’s Robert Ayala and Pablo Cavallero of Celta Vigo were runners up. Coleraine’s Marty Quinn again took the ‘Manager of the Month’ award.

With the transfer window opening for a short period, a number of transfers were able to be completed. Firstly Rick Adair finally arrived from Knockbreda for £1,000 and elsewhere Dungannon signed Paul Muir from Distillery. Also in the Premier Division, Ballymena took Glenn Bovaird from Omagh Town on a free transfer, Limavady United winger Mark McDaid dropped down to non-league Rathfriland due to work commitments, Moyola Park signed Limavady’s Davy Patton and Newry’s experienced centre-back Donal Broughan moved to Portstewart.