IRISH CUP: Gary Hamilton dedicates emphatic victory to former star Mark Farren

The Lurgan Blues romped to a comfortable 4-1 victory over hapless Glentoran at The Oval to progress to the quarter-finals of the Tennent’s Irish Cup.

The win came just three days after former Glenavon favourite Mark Farren passed away following a long battle with cancer.

In a bizarre turn of events, Glenavon scored their opening two goals in the 10th and 18th minutes – the two numbers Farren wore during spells with Glenavon and Derry City.

“To score in the 10th and 18th minutes is a freakish occurrence,” an emotional Glenavon boss Gary Hamilton said afterwards.

“Maybe Mark was looking down on us. Things like that send a shiver down your spine.”

Rhys Marshall broke the deadlock with a looping header in the 10th minute, with Ciaran Martyn doubling Glenavon’s lead with a bullet header eight minutes later.

Eoin Bradley curled in a superb effort from the right edge of the box after the break, with Glentoran’s consolation coming when Kris Lindsay deflected Curtis Allen’s cross into his own net three minutes from time.

Joel Cooper wrapped up the scoring with Glenavon’s fourth in injury time, angling a low drive past Aaron Hogg.

The win sees Glenavon progress to a home quarter-final tie with Loughgall on March 5.

“It has been an emotional week for everyone associated at the club,” Hamilton added.

“Times like these are difficult, and when you see Mark’s wife and family who are left behind, it is hard to comprehend.

“Mark was genuinely the most humble, honest guy you could ever meet. You took a liking to Mark straight away, and he was a great person.

“I did a radio interview before the match, and I almost broke down. I couldn’t get Mark out of my head.

“But hopefully he was looking down on us today and would be smiling at the result.

“I am delighted for big Ciaran scoring a goal. They played together at Derry City and Mark wore the number 18 at Derry, and Ciaran scored in the 18th minute. I am delighted for Mark’s family for that to happen.”

Goalscorer Martyn admitted his pride at scoring in the 18th minute.

“It has been a tough time, the last couple of days. All you want to do is play your best,” the midfielder said.

“To score in the 18th minute, which was Mark’s number at Derry City, was brilliant. It’s amazing, really.

“The first goal was in the 10th minute which was his number at Glenavon, so it was a bizarre sequence of events.

“But I am sure the family would have wanted us to win the game, and now we will try our best to reach the final.”

Glenavon’s fluid, attacking football was a million miles from Glentoran’s turgid, tepid performance that was blasted by their manager Alan Kernaghan.

“I am not one for slaughtering my players, but after the first couple of minutes we were second best all over the park – and it galls me to say that,” Kernaghan said.

“I don’t know why that is happening. I don’t usually rant and rave – I try and look at the positives and speak to the players.

“But for the first time I went off my nut at half-time. I don’t like doing that, because you throw out nonsense when your anger takes over.But I couldn’t put my name to that performance today.”

Kernaghan – who replaced Eddie Patterson back in November – added: “It is a bigger challenge than I originally thought, in terms of getting the team to play in a more robust manner, on and off the ball. That’s proving difficult.”