We’ve relied on Allen for too long: Garrett
DEFENDER Willie Garrett may have upstaged hotshot Curtis Allen at the Oval on Saturday but has backed the striker to nick his 100th goal in a Glentoran shirt sooner rather than later.
Allen has netted 99 times in the famous red, green and black short and came within inches of the fabulous milestone against a battling Institute only to see his first half effort kiss the top of the crossbar.
It was left the defensive duo, Ross Redman and Garrett to get the job done.
Although the Danske Bank Premiership new boys did threaten to spoil the party when Michael McCrudden’s strike cancelled out Redman’s opener, Paddy McLaughlin’s boys never looked capable of salving a point.
“Curtis will get his 100th very, very soon,” beamed Garrett. “He’s been on fire this season — it just didn’t happen for him this time.
“To be honest, we’ve relied on Curtis too much over the last couple of seasons. Ronnie (McFall) told us in pre-season the back four and midfield need to be chipping in with more goals.
“I was delighted to get off the mark — my first of the season. It was the same for Ross.”
Even though the result nudged the East Belfast side up to third place in the table, Garrett insists it was a below par performance.
We got the points without being at our best,” he admitted. “I don’t think we’ve played so poor- ly all season, but it shows we now have mental strength.
“Last season, we would have lost that game. So, it was good to get over the line without performing well.”
Institute chief Paddy McLaughlin believes his boys deserves something from the game.
“We played some nice stuff, but it’s a results-based business. When people lift the newspaper, they’ll see we lost again, but I thought it was a wee bit harsh on our boys.”
GLENTORAN: Morris, Garrett, Kane, Birney, McMahon (Davidson, 71 mins), Herron, Allen, McGuigan (Crowe, 86 mins), Kerr, Pepper, Redman. Unused subs: Nelson, Gordon, Ferrin, McCarthy, O’Neill. INSTITUTE: Gallagher, R Morrow, McLaughlin, Bonner, D Curry, Doherty, Harkin, McCrudden, J Morrow (Dunne, 71 mins), McIntyre (S Curry, 64 mins), Wilson (Brown, 79 mins). Unused subs: Scoltock, Jarvis, Kelly, McCallion.
Referee: Tim Marshall (Irvinestown)
Man of the match: Willie Garrett
Match rating: 6/10