A disappointing season for Glens
Team bow out with defeat in league cup
Willie Harvey branded Glencairn’s season as a disappointment after his side bowed out with a defeat in the Central League Cup quarter final.
The Celsius Stadium boss was left a dejected man when Graham Gracie stepped up to fire Larkhall Thistle into the lead last Wednesday with eight minutes left on the clock.
The Jags hitman proved to be a handful for The Glens’ defence all evening as he also opened the scoring in the first half.
David Dunnachie equalised in the 80th minute to settle his side’s nerves but his fellow defensive partner, Ryan Docherty, was judged to have handled the ball in the penalty area just a minute later.
Harvey was disappointed his team had conceded so soon after scoring and his feelings were the same when he summed up The Glens’ season as a whole.
“To lose a cup quarter final at home is never good,” he said
“There was a lot of tired players out there and a lot of injuries.
“There was the penalty decision as well which I never thought was a penalty but I’m not going to get bogged down in all that.
“I would have preferred to have finished the season with a win at home.
“I’m disappointed we haven’t extended a season but we’ve been on a big run of games in the past few weeks.
“Larkhall had a two to three week lay off period before the match so they were fresh.
“We had been camped in their half for most of the game and I thought once we had equalised we would have went on to win the match.
“I wasn’t happy with how soon we lost a goal. You know you’re always at your most vulnerable when you’ve just scored.”
It proved to be a game too far for Glencairn with a squad who were stretched to the absolute limit.
Several players played through injuries out of necessity after a schedule of 14 games in just over six weeks.
And even with a top half finish in the Super League First, Harvey was not pleased with how the season turned out.
“It has been very disappointing. There has been a lot of hurdles in our way this season.
“But fair play to the guys who have stayed with the team. It was hard not to keep all the guys till the end.
“I was really pleased with the attitude and the work rate of the players who stayed with the team.
“I was disappointed with the way the season panned out and with going out of the cups so early.”
Glencairn will now look to rebuild for next season to better their efforts in the 2015/16 campaign.
Once all fixtures in the junior leagues are tied up, Glencairn will be able to announce their new signings later this month. For instant Glens news, follow the club on twitter, @GlencairnFC.
Check out next week’s Reformer for Willie Harvey’s Rutherglen Glencairn end-of-season round-up.