DODGY DECISIONS?

Controversy, both involving assistant referee Dan Steele, surrounded two incidents that had a major bearing on this result. The first came as Mr Steele clearly flagged for offside as the ball came into the Glenavon area and struck the hand of Hugh Dickson. With referee Paddy McFadden pointing to the spot his assistant quietly took his flag down again. With Glenavon protesting strongly Dickson was yellow carded before Glentoran skipper Colin Nixon sent Tuda Murphy the wrong way with his spot kick.

Paul Carville's free kick comes down off the underside of the bar

Glenavon was still well in the game and after a superb free kick from Paul Carville in the second half came down off the bar and appeared to go over the line, as later confirmed by TV replays, again Mr Steele did Glenavon no favours when he failed to spot this.

Terry Cochrane stuck with the side which won last weekend at Coleraine so Conor Walsh and Michael McKerr had to be content with a place on the bench as they returned from suspension and an ankle injury respectively.

In the 21st minute Halliday headed a ball onto Hamilton and he flicked on to Scullion to feed Darren Boyce who had a shot blocked by McDonnell before Tuda Murphy dived on the loose ball. The Glens took the lead seven minutes later when Hugh Dickson was adjudged to have handled the ball though it seemed at first that the assistant referee Dan Steele had his flag up for offside. Colin Nixon took the kick sending Tuda Murphy the wrong way with Dickson picking up a booking for protesting the decision.

In the 32nd minute Hamilton ran onto a long diagonal clearance and passed the ball inside to the run of Scullion who drew a decent save from Murphy with a low shot from 12 yards. A minute later Gerard McMahon carried the ball through the centre and slid a pass through to Morris but he let the ball run wide and could only force a corner which Glentoran cleared.

Scullion had another shot saved as Halliday stepped over Hamilton’s centre in the 38th minute while Paul Carville tried his luck with a 30 yard shot two minutes from the interval which dipped just over the bar and landed on the roof of Dougherty’s net.

Boyce looped a header over from Hamilton’s cross in the 51st minute before Trevor Molloy’s volley from 25 yards three minutes layer curled wide of the near post.

Trevor Molloy carries the ball away from Glentoran's Shane McCabe and Dean Fitzgerald.

Paul Carville’s brilliant free kick in the 60th smashed off the bar and looked like it may have come down over the line but again Mr Steele did Glenavon no favours. This seemed to give Glenavon a lift and Dickson crossed a dangerous ball for Harper with Dougherty just getting a touch ahead of the little midfielder. Scullion then headed over from 10 yards from another excellent cross by Hamilton in the 65th minute. A great run by Boyce set up a chance for Scullion but somehow the Glenavon defence held firm and cleared the danger.

The Glens doubled their advantage in the 72nd minute as Colin Nixon popped up in the box to pull the ball back to the penalty spot where Scullion applied the finishing touch to slot the ball low to Murphy’s left.

McMahon’s rising shot was tipped over the bar by Dougherty after the midfielder controlled Carville’s deep cross about 10 yards out in 78th minute.

Glenavon didn’t let the heads drop and Harper played a decent ball into Morris’ run two minutes from the end which saw Dougherty saving with his legs but Boyce rubbed salt in the wounds in injury time when a long kick out from Dougherty was headed on by Halliday and dropped between Dickson and Murphy. The former Coleraine player got the outside of his right boot to it and a despondent Murphy could only watch as it looped up and dropped under his bar to give a score line that was harsh on an improving Glenavon side.

"I thought 3-0 was a bit harsh on us. We were competing and we're playing with a lot of commitment at the minute which is what we want.

"The linesman had his flag up for offside and then changed his mind which is absolutely ridiculous. Then there was the free kick which I thought was over the line and their keeper stopped as well; I think he realised it was in as well.

"You could see the commitment in the second half. We battled; we gave them problems. The Glens team is challenging for the League and we are coming out of the doldrums so I think ours was a good performance.

"The lads kept going; they kept at. That's the thing about Glenavon now: we're trying to put a little bit of spirit back into them and I think we did reasonably well. The lads can go out and say 'well 3-0 really flattered them.'

"On Tuesday we'll go out with the same commitment and give it a go again. The lads are giving their all and that's all you can expect."