Reds strike force will be ultimate test of Lurgan Blues defence: Hamilton

DANSKE BANK PREMIERSHIP GLENAVON manager Gary Hamilton admits his team’s defensive qualities will be scrutinised when they make the trip to north Belfast to face Cliftonville at Solitude today.

Although the Reds have been blowing hot and cold of late, when strike pair Joe Gormley and Rory Donnelly are on song they are hard to stop.

They demonstrated their predatory instincts last week against Dungannon Swifts when they plundered two goals apiece in the thumping 5-1 win.

The victory helped put a smile back on the face of manager Barry Gray, who even stated ‘it was probably the best performance from the team since he became manager’.

Hamilton doesn’t want to suffer a repeat, but knows it could be a testing afternoon for his young defence.

“It’s well documented that the Reds pose one of the best striking partnerships in the league,” he said. “If you are not on your game Gormley and Donnelly can hurt you.

“So, we must go there and be disciplined and be ready for the challenge. They had a couple of disappointing results . . . beaten at Ballymena and Linfield, but they certainly got back to form last weekend.”

Hamilton’s team are not far behind in the scoring stages with Andrew Mitchell and Stephen Murray also forming a lethal attacking force.

“We are sweating on the fitness of Murray, who has a hamstring tweak,” added Hamilton. “Stephen Donnelly is out with a knee injury, while Sammy Clingan will not play on the synthetic surface at Solitude.

“Although we were held to a draw by Institute at home last weekend, I was happy enough with the performance. We dominated the game but just failed to take our chances — we could have been three or four goals up at half-time.

“We were ultimately punished. It was also disappointing to concede three goals at home, so we have to make sure it doesn’t happen again this week.”

Even though the Lurgan Blues picked up only six from a possible 12 points over the month of November, they are still menacingly tucked in behind the top two, Ballymena United and Linfield, with a game in hand.

“If someone had offered it at the start of the season, we’d have taken it,” he added. “We’ve already seen that teams from the bottom end of the table are capable of taking points off the teams at the top.

“There have been three different league leaders so far and we are only into December. It’s such a competitive league — it could be like that right until the final week.” Danger: Gary Hamilton knows Cliftonville pose huge threat