All photographs on this page are © by Drew McWilliams, permission granted to glenavonfc.com

EAM ON HIGH!

Eamon Murray gave Glenavon the lead with an exquisite finish

Eamon Murray came on as a second half substitute and gave Glenavon the lead with what was probably his first touch. Nathan Jameson sealed it with a second goal eight minutes later to give Glenavon a first League win in 13 attempts.

'Stute had created practically all the chances in the first half but their failure to make these count ultimately led to their undoing.

Declan Divin for the visitors had the first real attempt after he fashioned a chance for himself in the 22nd minute, rounding Dickson near the bye line but the former Elgin City defender recovered to block his shot which looped up and grazed the back post before going out for a corner. Divin was involved again three minutes later when he fired a deep cross to an unmarked Cutmore which he volleyed and it took a decent save by Cairnduff to parry it with Conor Walsh completing the clearance.

‘Stute went even closer in the 32nd minute when Mark Scoltock crashed a header off the bar from Ryan Semple’s left wing corner. Steven Campbell’s overhead kick from yet another Semple corner was parried by Cairnduff at close range and he was grateful to Paul Walsh for clearing it off his line. The ‘Stute striker had another great chance moments later when Conor Walsh’s clearance rebounded off him but he tripped over the ball as he bore down on the Glenavon goal.

The second half turned out to be a mirror image of the first with Glenavon creating all the chances. It started in the 50th minute when a good through ball by Ciaran Donnelly put Nathan Jameson clear but he lost possession in the box as Boyle got back to put him under pressure.

The missed chances looked like they would indeed come back to haunt the visitors when substitute Eamon Murray scored a sublime goal to put Glenavon ahead with what was his first touch after replacing Stephen McCain three minutes earlier. For once Glenavon broke quickly and had numbers in the box when Molloy put over a superb cross which Murray brilliantly steered into the top left corner over the despairing Doherty.

Ciaran Donnelly's free kick set up the second goal

The boost in confidence that the goal gave the home side was plain to see and in the 67th minute Jameson got his head to Ciaran Donnelly’s free kick from wide on the left and looped it over the keeper as he came off his line to try to claim it.

Glenavon continued to create chances with Dickson putting a header just over the bar and Paul Walsh striking a good shot but straight into the chest of Doherty.

Hugh Dickson has joined Glenavon Photo courtesy Elgin City FC

TC's Comments

"That's how we want to play. We've raised the bar a little bit and we want to keep it there. We had a team that was maybe nearly our first team there tonight. It's close to it as big McDonnell's got to go in there so I'm quite happy. I know we rode our luck in the first half but everybody gets a little bit of luck now and again.

"We were playing together for the first time. It takes time for teams to gel and tonight showed that, when we gel we're not a bad outfit. I'm pleased with that performance but the performances have got to go on from here. The staff have had the right attitude: Alan (Fraser) and Stevie (McBride) who I've brought in again. We've mustered the troops a little bit and they've come out and given us a fighting performance and that's what we need. We need that right from the start of the next game.

"Tonight just shows you what players can do when they get shook out of their lethargy. It (Tuesday night) touches their pride a little bit. They've done very well tonight and I'm over the moon with that result. I think we can go from there but we cannot rest on our laurels. We had a good performance against Ballymena then a bad result against Bangor. We've raised the bar to that tempo and we've got to keep it at that. We've got to get the players to believe. We've got a friendly next week against St. Pats and they're a good side. Their fitness levels will be high as they have all the senior pros full time so I'm hoping that we can get something out of the game."