IRISH LEAGUE: Glentoran aiming to bounce back after narrow Reds defeat

Glentoran are aiming to bounce back on Saturday against Carrick Rangers after defeat against Cliftonville last weekend saw them slip into the bottom half of the table.
Glentoran manager Gary Haveron.Glentoran manager Gary Haveron.
Glentoran manager Gary Haveron.

Gary Haveron’s men lost narrowly by a single goal and the Glens boss felt it was a harsh result.

“There wasn’t much in the game and I don’t think either goalkeeper has had much to do, but we’ve given Cliftonville once chance to get numbers forward and get at us and they’ve taken it,” he said.

“I don’t think we’ve deserved to lose and a draw’s the very least we should have been coming away with, but it was the same against Crusaders at Seaview a fortnight ago. It’s a results business and it’s the score that matters so, yes, there are positives to take from performances but it’s hard to do that when you’re not getting the results.

“We went down to Warrenpoint a few weeks ago and didn’t play well at all but we managed to win the game.”

Carrick Rangers are also coming off a defeat after going down 3-1 to Ballymena last weekend, which left boss Davy McAlinden with a sense of overriding frustration.

“We’re all frustrated because we’re all in it together. I feel so gutted for the players and they feel gutted and frustrated,” said McAlinden, whose side had taken a 1-0 lead.

“We looked so in control and then you look at the scoreboard and find yourself 2-1 down.

“You ask yourself, ‘how did we end up here?’ But we had chances to kill the game off when we were on top. The first half I thought we were excellent apart from the first five minutes.

“We looked like a team who felt they could really do with the three points and we became edgy. If we had of composed ourselves in the second half we could’ve won.”