FEBRUARY 2006

25th February 2006: NO LUCK FOR BLUES

Glenavon 1-2 Coleraine

Two goals from Coleraine's Darren Boyce proved enough to give the Bannsiders a vital win, despite a late goal from Glenavon's Aaron Black. Once again it was an error that conceded the winner when Lee Duxbury gave the ball away to Gordon Patton and he slid it through for Boyce eight minutes from time. Even then it took a deflection off Duxbury from the youngster's shot to beat McDonald.

Coleraine's opener in the 23rd minute also required an element of luck as Barry Reid lost his footing as he was about to head Stephen Beatty's free kick clear, leaving Boyce with an easy header from 6 yards.

Glenavon sustained good pressure for most of the second half and the Bannsiders once again had their veteran keeper Davy O'Hare to thank for two great saves that denied O'Connor's header and McAlinden's free kick. O'Hare also rather fortuitously deflected first half efforts from McVeigh and McAlorum onto the bar but he could do nothing to keep out Black's close range shot in the 87th minute as he smashed the ball into the roof of the net after the Coleraine defence failed to deal with McKnight's corner.

Post-match Reactions

Jim Brown: "I thought we deserved something out of it. On the balance of play we had more chances, certainly in the first half and we had a lot of the play in the second half but couldn't convert - a lot of pressure, a lot of the play was in their half but we didn't convert until it was too late

"We've got to keep our heads up and keep working away. It's still in our own hands to remain in this division.

"O'Hare made some great saves but there was a few today when he was a bit lucky and he didn't know much about it but he got the touch onto the bar. I think we hit the woodwork four times.

"We missed Marty Verner today. He's injured and failed a fitness test before the game. He didn't train this week after the knock he took last week. Young McAlorum had to come off  - he has a stomach bug. He played very well in the first half but he had to come off after half time with stomach cramps. There's a few of them suffering from chest infections.

"Telford took a knock on his ankle in the first half and he could hardly get the boot back on again at half time. He tried to play on in the second half but he just couldn't maintain it. Hyndes had to come off with a groin injury and Kieran O'Connor is sitting in there with a groin injury so, with Conor Walsh suspended for the next two games, personnel-wise it's tight."

Marty Quinn: "It was a vital three points for us coming here today. That must put us up a couple of places and that pleases me as we can see a wee bit of light between ourselves and some of the clubs at the bottom. I think another three wins would probably secure our Premiership status.

"The game wasn't a great spectacle for the fans but we scored two goals and that was the important thing today. The important thing was coming here and winning and that's what we did so I'm delighted.

"We let Glenavon back into it late in the game from a simple defensive situation which should have been cleared but it's a learning process for a lot of the boys. They're doing well and as long as we survive it'll be a good season for us.

"Davy (O'Hare) has been doing this on a regular basis. He's by far the best goalkeeper in the League as far as I'm concerned. He kept us in the game today. We'd a bit of luck in the first half when a couple bounced onto the woodwork. That's what we haven't been having for a number of months. We got a bit of luck in our last game against Larne and we got a bit of luck today, I'd be the first to admit that but the main objective was to get the three points and we did that."

JACKPOT WON AGAIN!

Incredibly, after a run of 64 weeks without being won, the Jackpot in the Glenavon Lottery has been won for a second week in succession! The numbers drawn in Monday's draw were 3, 12, 13, 20. The winner is a Waringstown man who wishes to have no publicity.

Jackpot for next week is again £1000.

IT'S BEEN WON!

The massive jackpot in the Glenavon Lottery has been won at last! The winner scooped the record prize of £7300 by picking the four numbers 1, 5, 9, 21 which popped out of the lottery machine in Monday night's draw at Mourneview Park.

The lucky winner is a Lurgan based Glenavon supporter who wishes to remain anonymous. The winner, who is a regular at Mourneview Park, has been buying lottery tickets for years and now his persistence has paid off in style.

HEROES TO ZEROES

Glenavon 1- 4 Newry City

With Newry City 's players still coming to terms with the sudden departure of their manager in midweek, Glenavon taking the lead through a Marty Verner goal within 65 seconds of the kick off should have been a blow to the confidence of the visitors and the ideal start for the home side. That lead lasted just three minutes, though, as James Willis outpaced Aaron Black and slotted past McDonald after he raced onto Ferguson's through ball. The Glenavon keeper pulled off a brilliant one-handed save to keep out Ferguson's rising drive just a minute after the opening goal.

It was 'hero turned villain' though in the 12th minute when McDonald, last week's man of the match against Coleraine, palmed a deep Kevin Keegan cross back across his own goal from 3 yards beyond the back post. That left Lee Feeney with a relatively simple finish for his first goal for Newry.

Paul McKnight could have levelled the game in the 25th minute when he was put clean through by Verner's neat pass but, with only the keeper to beat from 12 yards, he seemed to stop expecting an offside flag that never came.

A bad error by Davy McAlinden saw his weak back pass release Feeney and the former Rangers star slotted past the exposed McDonald just 45 seconds into the second half to more or less kill off any hopes of a Glenavon comeback.

Walsh could have restored some hope 15 minutes later but he headed over from inside the six yard box and then to compound his misery was dismissed in the 77th minute for a second yellow card after a foul on Keegan.

In injury time City's industrious midfielder Richard Clarke got the just reward for his efforts when he slid the ball under McDonald from Crawford's pass.

Post-match Reactions

Jim Brown: "At the end of the day, we presented them with three gift goals . We started well and scored early but then we went to sleep for the rest of the game. We gifted them three goals and there's nothing more you can say about it: it was just a poor performance at the back. Andy gifted one; big Davy gifted a couple. It's unforgivable at this level.

"We had the same 11 players as last week but they just didn't perform this week."

Ollie Ralph: "Delighted. We got a response to Paul Millar leaving on Tuesday night when we played Derry City. It took a while to find our feet and get back to basics. Today you saw the results of that. The boys wanted to play; wanted to win. I thought we had a smashing game. We conceded early but the heads never dropped. We got back into it and went on to win comfortably.

"Lee Feeney's a smashing player. He gets on the ball, passes it, does it quick and brings people into play. I think Newry needed someone like that. In front of goal he was clinical - two smashing goals."

JANUARY P.O.M.

BLUES GET TOUGH!

Alternative Training Session

Glenavon manager Jimmy Brown hopes his team’s visit to a kickboxing club this week will lead to an improved level of discipline in his squad. Brown, a fan of kickboxing who “dabbled a bit” in kickboxing during his time as Glentoran coach, wants his players to improve on upper body strength, flexibility and confidence ahead of the gruelling run-in to the climax of the season.

Brown was used to winning trophies and having the cream of Irish League talent at his disposal during an eight year spell as assistant manager at Glentoran.

He admits that he discovered a “different level of mentality and discipline” since becoming Glenavon boss and is keen to give his players an insight into how and why the likes of Glentoran and Linfield remain consistently successful in the game. "There’s so much more to playing football in the Irish Premier League than training two nights a week and lasting 90 minutes on a Saturday,” said Brown.

“At different levels of the game there are different cultures of discipline and preparation. I want Glenavon players to live their lives in a way that will make them better on and off the pitch. The more disciplined and self-respecting they are, the better they will be as footballers.”

Brown took his Premier League newcomers to the famous Prokick Gym in east-Belfast where former four-time world champion Billy Murray tested their resolve.

Murray said: “At the start of the class there were a few jokes but when I told the players how things worked at the gym they were most respectful and responded brilliantly to the training.

“Jimmy (Brown) and I are on the same wavelength. We both want the best for our students and in return we expect the best from them. Competitive sport is so much more enjoyable when you are confident that what you do for yourself is geared toward making you better.

“With stronger individual and collective mentality, Glenavon will win trophies. Jimmy Brown is a winner, he showed that at Glentoran and he will bring out the best in Glenavon players – but they have to want to be the best.”

Brown expects to return to the Prokick Gym for further coaching under Murray and said his players appeared to enjoy the experience. “Once the lads got an idea of why they were in a kickboxing gym they responded well. They all enjoyed it and we are looking forward to doing it again.”

Visit the Prokick website.

11th February 2006: GREAT CUP VICTORY

A great all-round display of super football and a superb goal-keeping performance from Andy McDonald saw Glenavon safely through to a Quarter-Final tie against either Linfield or Loughgall.

Marty Verner gave the hosts the lead in the 15th minute after good play by McKnight and an incisive pass from Hyndes but it took a number of brilliant stops from McDonald to deny Boyce and Anderson and ensure that Glenavon held onto that lead until the half time interval.

A 53rd minute back post header by Aaron Black from McKnight's corner should have ended any lingering hopes of a Bannsiders comeback but, to be fair to them, they never gave up and the hosts were grateful to McDonald for another couple of brilliant saves that kept out Ferry's looping header and a goal-bound deflection off Davy McAlinden that he kept out after starting to go the wrong way.

The game was finally put to bed with a Gerard McMahon  penalty in the dying moments after Davy O'Hare, after gathering the ball safely, bizarrely pushed Conor Walsh.

The standing ovations received by McKnight and Verner after they were substituted later on was testament to the excellent understanding that the two front men seem to have developed and the high standard of their football today. Report

Post-match Reactions

Jim Brown: "I'm very pleased to get to the Quarter finals. I thought Coleraine down here would be a hard game. I had them watched last week and the 3-0 score line at The Oval really didn't reflect the play.

"I tried to remind the players about how we played in the away game in the League against Coleraine. Today it was something similar but we managed to convert our chances.

"Andy McDonald was superb today. I brought in James Miller to provide some senior competition for Andy. He has seen James play in the game at Ards when we won 3-0. I left him out against Lurgan Celtic and Loughgall because we knew he was cup-tied for this one so Andy had to get games. We saw today that outcome of that in the sense that he's reacted to the competition and it's brought the best out of him.

"Paul McKnight did very well. Obviously the two strikers aren't the tallest but they can both play and certainly Paul McKnight, on his day, is one of the best footballers in the country. He's suffered a lot of injuries and he's never really had the chance to get into the team because of his lack of fitness. He had to come off today because he was absolutely shattered but he's training hard and his fitness is improving."

Marty Quinn: "We didn't take our chances in the first half and I thought we should have had a penalty when young Boyce was impeded by the goal keeper but we didn't take our chances and at the end of the day if you don't do that you don't win games.

"I've no real complaints about the first goal. At first I thought it was offside but I think I got it wrong.

"We were confident at half time that we could turn it round but the second goal just killed us. It was a bad goal from a set piece where someone didn't do his job.

"I'm just so disappointed for the travelling support today and for the players. We know ourselves we could have done better in terms of taking chances."

4th February 2006: DISAPPOINTMENT

After taking the lead on the stroke of half time through a close range finish from Kieran O'Connor, Glenavon manager Jim Brown was disappointed that his side conceded a  late Daragh Peden equalizer, especially since Loughgall had been reduced to ten men by the 59th minute dismissal of Ian Wallace for a second yellow card.

O'Connor stabbed home from 3 yards to score his second goal inside 7 days after Conor Walsh had headed Scott Walker's free kick back across the goal mouth. Glenavon had outplayed the hosts throughout the first half and a 1-0 half-time lead was the least that they deserved, with Loughgall's main method of attack being a long kick out from goalkeeper Marc Robinson.

The sending off seemed to upset the Glenavon team's rhythm and Loughgall actually came much more into the match with 10 men. Peden ghosted in at the back post to finish off a move that began with a Loughgall throw in awarded when a terrible bobble caused O'Connor to slice an attempted clearance out of play.

Report

Post-Match Reactions

Jim Brown: "I was disappointed in the extreme. I thought we were well in control for the first 45 minutes; scored just before half time and really all the team talk was to say to the boys 'just keep doing the same things' but as always, you find when you are playing against ten men you lose your shape for some reason or other. It's a mental thing. They came into the game for some reason and caused us problems. We weren't doing the same things we had been doing in the first half: getting the ball over the top and into the channels and making them defend.

"It's difficult to play football down here. At this stage of the season the pitch is quite bumpy so it's hard to get the ball down and play so you've got to work at getting the ball forward quickly and we did that. I thought we showed more commitment and more 'attitude' than Loughgall  and certainly at half time I was feeling comfortable enough but we know that Loughgall always play to the death with eleven men or ten men. I'm just so disappointed. Obviously we didn't lose today but we've dropped two valuable points for us at this stage of the season.

"I was disappointed with a couple of the referee's decisions where we had the ball and were in possession and he pulled us back for free kicks and we were really in an advantageous position in those situations. Also when Marty Verner was fouled I thought it was an absolute disgrace. The ref went away to see what was happening to Davy McAlinden and he was about, I thought, to book the player who committed the offence: young Robinson, who was booked earlier, and I think he realised he had booked him and he wasn't going to end him off and make it nine men. It was one of the worst fouls in the game but the ref said to me it wasn't a bookable offence! Marty Verner's lying in there with a very sore leg, with stud marks on his ankle."

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