Honours even as flying start fails to result in winning return for Glenavon

Glentoran spent the first half-hour period on the backfoot following a slick Glenavon start that featured a number of sights of goal.

A testing corner-kick by Kyle Neill led to Rhys Marshall firing goalwards on five minutes but the effort was hacked off the line.

Marshall’s header was then pushed on to the crossbar by Aaron Hogg after 11 minutes following Andy Hall’s corner-kick delivery.

Joel Cooper came close on two occasions in quick succession, with the first attempt blocked and second cleared off the line.

Eoin Bradley managed to steer his header off Andy Kilmartin’s cross beyond Hogg - only for the post to stop the hosts from breaking the deadlock.

Glentoran ended the first half with a rare scoring opportunity as Conor McMenamin capped a slick break by the visitors with a low drive which Johnny Tuffey saved at the expense of a corner-kick.

The final talking point of the half was Curtis Allen’s looping header over the crossbar after the Glentoran striker reacted to connect to a sliced clearance by Kilmartin.

Glentoran started the second half on top although Cooper was presented with a golden opportunity on 53 minutes but his close-range strike off Hall’s low cross cleared the crossbar.

Tuffey was on hand to claw away Marcus Kane’s header following a Scullion corner-kick. Steven Gordon’s snapshot was then blocked by Tuffey, with Kris Lindsay clearing the rebound.

GLENAVON: Johnny Tuffey, Rhys Marshall, Conor Dillon, Kris Lindsay, Kyle Neill, Andy Hall, Andy Kilmartin, James Singleton, Joel Cooper, Kevin Braniff, Eoin Bradley. Subs: Simon Kelly (on for Neill, 79 mins), Andy McGrory, Declan O’Brien, Mark Patton (on for Cooper, 74 mins), Gary Hamilton (on for Braniff, 75 mins).

GLENTORAN: Aaron Hogg, Barry Holland, Calum Birney, Jonny Addis, Marcus Kane, Stephen McAlorum, Conor McMenamin, David Scullion, Kym Nelson, Steven Gordon, Curtis Allen. Subs: Fra McCaffrey (on for Scullion, 72 mins), Kristan Gibson (on for Nelson, 85 mins), William Garret, Jay Magee, Stephen McCullough.

Referee: Arnold Hunter.