Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WE WAN MCCLEA TROPH NT TO N UP IES..
Defender believes Glens can
GLENTORAN may have endured a frustratingly slow start to the season but Patrick Mcclean is convinced they can finish it in style.
The flinty defender played a big part in the Irish Cup holders’ dismissal of Cliftonville at The Oval on Saturday and declared afterwards: “We don’t want that trophy to go anywhere.”
With their chances of a league title vanishingly small now – due mainly to that poor run of form at the start of the campaign – Glentoran are desperate to keep hold of the Irish Cup as the players seek to cement a winning mentality at the club.
“We want to win trophies, to be up there challenging with all the best teams and I think we’ve shown this season – and last season – that we’re definitely up there,” added Mcclean.
“We go out each week just wanting to show everybody how good we are and I think we’ve done that in abundance.
“We’ve got two or three players for each position and any player that comes in, they do well, so we’re confident in ourselves and the way we play.”
Indeed, the way Glentoran are playing bodes well for next season, when Mick Mcdermott’s strong, settled squad will surely fancy their chances of lifting the club’s first league title since 2009.
Of more immediate concern is tomorrow night’s quarter-final clash at home to Crusaders, who will have noted how their north Belfast neighbours failed to land a glove on the Glens at the weekend.
Control and territorial dominance have been the hallmarks of Glentoran’s fine run of form in the latter part of the season and it was no different against Cliftonville, with Rory Donnelly’s second half header enough to claim victory in a tie that only really sparked to life towards the end.
Oval assistant boss Paul Millar said: “It was a smashing finish from Rory. We’ve been working on set-pieces. Dale Gorman’s delivery was really good as well.
“We deserved to win. Cliftonville put us under pressure late on – they had to, they were a goal down. But we managed the game better than we did against Coleraine the other night, so it’s good that we’ve learned something.
“I thought we looked really composed.”
As for Cliftonville, it will be at least another year before their Irish Cup hoodoo is broken, and boss Paddy Mclaughlin felt his players failed to grasp the opportunity in front of them.
He said: “It’s disappointing to lose a cup game in the manner in which we lost.
“It’s a bad feeling for the team, the club and the supporters because we want to end this jinx that’s been hanging over the club too long.”
But when asked if the Reds’ agonising wait for Irish Cup glory might be weighing his players down, Mclaughlin was having none of it.
“We should be excited and have the desire to be the team that ends that 42-year run.
“You have to embrace that and take it with both hands, driving on to do all you can to end that because I’m sure the supporters are sick hearing about it.
“In the first half we matched Glentoran all round the park, we were winning our individual battles, and I think in the second half we did that as well.
“But to get done by a set-piece is criminal, to give away a goal that costs you your place in the next round of the Cup.
“We’re bitterly disappointed.”