Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
GLENS TO THE FOUR AS RORY GETS BACK TO HIS BEST:
Vintage Donnelly is the stuff of 1970s comic book heroes
GLENTORAN striker Rory Donnelly admits he’s playing with a smile on his face again.
The 29-year-old was beaming from ear to ear after bagging a delicious double in his team’s impressive win over Portadown at the Oval on Saturday.
It was Glentoran’s fourth-successive victory – and one that inched them closer to secondplaced Coleraine in the Danske Bank Premiership table. Donnelly’s opener would have been worth the admission money alone if fans were permitted. He picked up a pass from Caolan Marron before curling a brilliant shot beyond the outstretched glove of Gareth Buchanan from the edge of the box.
Robbie Mcdaid hit the second on his first game back from injury... it was a typical poacher’s finish, tapping home a Marcus Kane cross at the back post.
Donnelly headed his second with eight minutes left, finishing off a Jamie Mcdonagh cross, before Andy Mitchell opened his Glentoran goal account with a vicious low drive.
“I feel my performances in recent weeks have improved and I feel myself getting back to full fitness,” stated Donnelly. “As a striker you feel it when you don’t score... it can be difficult when the goals don’t come.
“But you have to keep working at it and hope your luck will change just like it did for me against Carrick Rangers a few weeks back when the ball went into the net off my shin.
“At the end of the day, a goal is a goal, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a worldie, or a tap in at the back post. I’m really enjoying my football at the minute.”
Donnelly believes his team were well worth the three points, adding: “We have a great group of boys at the club, and we are now on a nice little winning run, it’s important we keep that going.
“The gaffer keeps telling us the harder we work, the more success we’ll have on the pitch. Every one of the lads puts in a shift when they go out there.
“We know what we are capable of... we can beat any team in the league on any given day. I was happy with my performance, happy with the three points and happy with the goals.”
Portadown boss Matthew Tipton (circled) admitted his boys were beaten by ‘probably the best team I the league’.
“We did as well as we could do against, in my opinion, the best side in the league,” said the Ports boss. “Linfield are at the top of the table, so in theory they are the best, but Glentoran are certainly the most difficult team we have played.
“They are well organised, they are fit, they are athletic, and they have a good pattern of play which they use to their advantage. We probably had to sacrifice a bit of our own game just to combat that.
“You have to be honest in life, and admit the other team is better than you.”
GLENTORAN: Brown, Kane, Mccullough, Bigirimana, R. Donnelly, Mcdaid, Mcclean, Marron, Plum, Marshall, J. Donnelly. Subs; Morris, Gallagher, Mcdonagh, Mitchell, Clucas, O’connor, Crowe. PORTADOWN: Buchanan, Hall, Mckeown, Salley, Bonis, Wilson, Croskery, Guy, Kerr, Warde, Tilney. Subs; Mckeown, Lavery, Tipton, Murray, Teggart, Conaty, Carney.