GLENAVON v COLERAINE, A LOOK AHEAD

On Saturday 2^nd December 2023 Glenavon faces Coleraine at Mourneview Park in its next Sports Direct Irish Premiership fixture. Although the Bannsiders’ results have been inconsistent, they are in sixth place in the table and can look forward to a series of matches against Bottom Six clubs between now and Christmas. Their best result of the season was a 2-1 victory against Glentoran at the Oval in September.

Coleraine will be without top scorer Matthew Shevlin amongst others. Nonetheless, Stephen McDonnell anticipates a challenging 90 minutes. “Davy McDaid or Andy Mitchell will probably replace Shevlin,” he said. “Coleraine is a quality team with quality players. They also have a big squad which can absorb injuries. Plus, they have more points than us in the league and six weeks ago defeated us 4-1 at the Showgrounds. All that suggests that they will be very difficult opponents.”

McDonnell hopes that his team can find the form which has yielded five successive league victories and a League Cup win with only one goal conceded. “I want us to be on it in the way that we were when we defeated Loughgall 2-0 a fortnight ago,” he continued. “That is the best 90-minute performance recently. We weren’t quite at that level against Newry City and struggled in midweek at Limavady. Top Six clubs are unforgiving. We will need to be at our very best if we are to have any hope of collecting points against Coleraine.”

The Glenavon boss has been encouraged by Aaron Prendergast’s recent goalscoring form. The 19 year old has scored crucial goals in the victories against Dungannon Swifts, Newry and Limavady. “Aaron is young and is still learning the game,” said Stephen. “He has probably, at times, felt as if he has been carrying the worries of the world on his shoulders. But he has not stopped working hard and has got himself into some great positions. Now that the goals have started to come, he should feel encouraged. Hopefully, he can maintain his current form.”

Stephen revealed that Niall Quinn is a major doubt for Saturday’s fixture. On Tuesday night he suffered a reoccurrence of the hamstring injury which has plagued his season. Aaron Rogers, it transpires, has not broken his arm. However, he has suffered ligament damage and is in plaster. He is likely to be sidelined for a minimum of two months. On a more positive note, Calum Birney, Jamie McDonagh and Andy Mooney are available again for selection. Mark Haughey continues to make good progress.

The match against Coleraine will be sponsored by McCleary & Co, Accountants. The ball sponsor is Mr. Paul Greenfield. The ‘Player of the Match’ sponsor is Richard and Barry Johnston. Many thanks to all our sponsors.

Other Glenavon teams in action this weekend:

• Monday 4^th December 2023 – Glenavon Reserves v Newry City Reserves, Mourneview Park, 1945 k.o.
• Friday 1^st December 2023 – Glenavon U-18s v Ballinamallard U-18s, Lurgan Junior High School 3G, 2000 k.o.
• Saturday 2^nd December 2023 – Ballinamallard U-16s v Glenavon U-16s, Omagh Youth Sport, 1100 k.o.
• Saturday 2^nd December 2023 – Dungannon Swifts U-15s v Glenavon U-15s, Drumco 3G, 0945 k.o.
• Saturday 2^nd December 2023 – Linfield U-14s v Glenavon U-14s, Midgley Park, 0915 ko.