DOUBLE TROUBLE
Back-to-back games against Cumnock
Glencairn manager Willie Harvey has been left“embarrassed” after a late fixture switch means the Glens will face the same team twice in two weeks.
The Celsius Stadium men were set to play junior heavyweights Pollok this Saturday, but junior bosses have switched the game, and the Glens will now face Cumnock instead.
The West Region’s fixtures secretary cited the fact that some Premiership teams are playing in the Macron Scottish Cup that day.
Yet neither the Glens or Pollok are among those teams.
And the fixture change leaves Glencairn playing back to back league games against Cumnock,, who defeated them 3-2 on October 19.
Harvey hit out: “It’s embarrassing how this has been handled.
“The fact we’re getting Cumock two games on the bounce, when they are a side down at the bottom with us, is totally unacceptable, but we have to grin and bear it.
“There’s no real changes in personal from the first game, so it’s déjà vu for us.”
However the Glensboss believes his men can reverse the defeat from a fortnight ago.
“We should have taken something from that game. There were decisions made that really went against us, like Liam Gormley having a good goal disallowed for a foul, and then their defender was allowed to get away with the same thing. “
The Glens go into the game following a 4-3 victory over Islavale in the Cup last weekend.
The First Division West side gave the Glens a tough test, threatening a shock lead when they took a 2-1 second half lead.
Although the Glens rallied and lead 4-2, a late Owen Christie penalty set up a nervous last few minutes, with Kris Gebbie clearing the ball off the line in the last minute.
Harvey added: “We didn’t play well, we had passes going all over the place and it was poor fare.
“We were disappointed in ourselves because we expected to win that convincingly and it was a wee wake up call — yes, we still have players missing but you need to perform better than that.
“The positives are that it’s a long journey there and you need to make a few allowances for that.
“Senior teams would have gone up the night before, but we can’t do that, so we were leaving at 8am.
“I’ll be expect better standards in this game from the players.”
Glencairn squeezed into round four of the Macron Scottish Junior Cup after a scare from Islavale.
After an early flurry from the home side, the Glens took a grip on proceedings with the deadlock broken in the 19th minute. The ball broke on the edge of the penalty area to Sean McGuire, and he fired into the corner of the net for his first goal of the season.
Glencairn were wasteful with chances to double their lead, and were made to pay as Islavale equalised in the 34th minute. Owen Christie outpaced Chrystal and he then produced an exquisite finish as he chipped the ball over McLellan.
The second half started with a bang as Islavale set up the prospect of a shock by taking the lead.
McIntosh looked miles offside as he raced clear on the right but there was no flag, and he rolled the ball to Christie who tapped into the open net.
The Glens now had work to do but, instead of feeling sorry for themselves, they rolled up their sleeves and set about sorting the problem.
The scores were level again at 2-2 in the 52nd minute as McRobbie’s volley from 22 yards remarkably hit both posts and rebounded back out, only for Dale Simeon to volley into the net.
Two minutes later Gormley was tripped inside the penalty area, resulting in a spot kick.
Dale Simeon’s shot was palmed onto the crossbar by Gordon, but he scored the rebound.
The Glens got the comfort margin they had been searching for as they made it 4-2 in the 70th minute. Gormley’s flick released Callum McRobbie, who beat Gordon.
It looked like the Glens had secured their passage to the fourth round, but Vale had other ideas.
Anderson dived into a challenge inside the penalty area in the 90th minute resulting in a penalty, and Christie smashed the ball in off the underside of the crossbar to complete his hat trick.
The hosts came almighty close to equalising in the 94th minute. A corner from the left picked out Aaron McPherson, and his header was heading for the net until Gebbie’s head diverted the ball up and over his own crossbar from right in front of goal.