Mourneview hosts the first game of the First Round of the Samuel Gelston’s Whiskey Irish Cup. The game is the only all-Premiership fixture of the round and will be stremed live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
Glenavon’s last game saw fatigue being a factor in their 2 nil defeat at home to Cliftonville. Glenavon failed to register a shot on target last Saturday and will be hoping to redeem themselves tonight.
The Lurgan side also hope to put on a better performance than last year’s Irish Cup ‘run’ after Glenavon bowed out at the same stage of the competition following a 2-1 defeat at home to the Swifts’.
Crusaders go into the game after recovering from the second wave of COVID through their camp. With several games rescheduled, the Crues recovered and in the New Year drew with Carrick. They played again on Tuesday in their rescheduled festive derby, beating Cliftonville 2-0.
“We want to win every game we play and Friday night isn’t going to be any different.
“It’s going to be a tough game, we know. They were down here the other week and are a good side.
“It’s a big competition for them. They’ll be coming here with the same emphasis on it that we have.
“Hopefully we can get our energy levels back this week and get going on Friday night and get a result.”
The last time the Irish Cup saw this fixture was in the 2016 semi-final in which Glenavon got the best of the North Belfast side in a 4-3 thriller.
There will also be a bucket collection for Leukaemia & Lymphoma NI and MDS Patient Support Group. It is a part of fundraising efforts by Adam Topping, one of our Academy coaches, who will be running the Belfast Marathon in May in memory of his dad.
Tickets can still be purchased here – https://www.glenavonfc.com/ticketing-2/. Please remember that Season Tickets are not valid for this fixture.
PLAYER NEWS
Glenavon will be without O’Mahony and Doran through recurring injury.
Birney, Garrett and Campbell will be out due to suspension.
LAST TIME OUT
A last-minute goal from Fitzpatrick secured a win for Glenavon at the start of last month.
A controversial sending off from the referee left Crusaders with 10 men on the pitch. A case of mistaken identity saw Evan Boyce giving Robbie Weir what he believed to be a second yellow card.
Although the Crues were down to 10 men, it switched them on a bit, leaving them with two good chances to score.
MATCH SPONSORS
Match Sponsor – Mbroidery.co.uk
Ball Sponsor – Roy McStea
Man of the Match Sponsor – Philliez Phadez Barbers
