Passion and pride back in Glens shirt, says Kane
GLENTORAN skipper Marcus Kane believes pride is the buzz word at The Oval these days.
The east Belfast boys are now playing with passion and determination — essentials that had been missing in recent times.
Their newly-found resolve surfaced in their midweek League Cup win against Coleraine. The Glens somehow summoned up the energy to haul themselves back into the game deep into extra-time to force a penalty shoot-out.
And they held their nerve to punch their ticket to a home quarter-final slot against Crusaders on Tuesday, November 13.
With a Danske Bank Premier- ship showdown with Cliftonville at Solitude this afternoon, Kane believes his team approach the game in the best possible shape.
“People have said that this time last year, we probably wouldn’t have won the game in midweek — and it’s probably fair comment,” he said. “We have people at the club that want to drive the club forward — they want to win and won’t accept failure.
“We have a winning mentality in the team. It’s like night and day from last season. The passion and the pride is back in the shirt.”
There is little doubt the introduction of John Herron, Conor Pepper, Joe Crowe and Chris Gallagher has been key.
“The new boys have done well and have played their way into the team,” said Kane. “Joe has played in the centre of midfield, but has fitted well into the centre-back role. Conor is a busy boy, he gets about the pitch.
“Chris and John were both superb in the last two games against Ards and Coleraine. That’s four new players that give us options that we didn’t have last season.”
Kane also believes adding Glentoran legends Gary Smyth and Paul Leeman to the management team was a masterstroke.
“They have been superb,” he added. “They were winners in their playing days. They’ve brought that bit of experience, but more importantly have urged everyone to take pride in the shirt. I know Ronnie (McFall) was a legend at Portadown, but he is also a legend at our club as well.”
Kane, however, admits his team will need to bring their A game to Solitude today.
“We’ve had our ups and downs at Solitude over the past few years,” he added. “It depends what Cliftonville team turns up. Sometimes you think you are playing against Brazil and other times they are ordinary enough.
“We know the way they like to play, so we’ll have to have our tactics right. They have some big players, the likes of Joe Gormley and the Donnelly brothers. They are top quality and they all score.
“Although we played well in certain league games, we didn’t get the result we were after. We must start changing our good performances into results.
“Our aim is to beat the teams below us and compete with the teams around us. We have to compete with the big boys — keep our heads down and keep picking up points.”