McCaul is toast of Glenavon after win
Press Eye, Belfast, Northern Ireland - 4th February 2012 Carling premier league match between Glenavon and Carrick Rangers at Mourneview park Lurgan. Glenavons and Carricks Photograph: Stephen Hamilton Presseye.com
BRIAN McCaul was the toast of Mourneview Park on Saturday as his hat-trick moved Glenavon off the foot of the Carling Premiership.
The win moves them above their opponents and Dungannon Swifts, who didn’t play at the weekend.
The Linfield loanee has now bagged six goals in five games for Gary Hamilton’s side, becoming an instant hit with the Mourneview faithful.
And the manager is a big fan of his as well. He said, “I watched him play for five minutes for Linfield Swifts against Glentoran and I knew straight away he was a player.
“He’s outstanding. He gets himself into great positions and you can’t teach that. Probably unfairly for him he’s been played out on the right wing but that’s a sign of a good player – he can play wherever he’s asked and produce.”
And all three of his goals were excellent finishes.
After Thomas Hyland had headed Carrick into a third minute lead McCaul pulled the scores level, sidestepping Paul Murphy to finish into an empty net.
Parity was only to last one minute as Carrick restored their lead. Jay Magee’s misplaced pass was intercepted by Marcus Kane and his cross was turned into the net by the head of Stephen O’Neill.
Kane was sent off in the second half by referee Brian Turkington for a second yellow card for bringing down Kyle Neill. The winger floated the resulting free kick into the box, John Convery headed it down and McCaul volleyed home to make it 2-2.
McCaul’s winner came when Mark Turkington’s killer pass was dummied by Tony Grant to allow the hat-trick hero to take home the match ball with a deft finish.
For Rangers’ caretaker boss Michael Hughes the game changed after the sending off and he was less than impressed with the man in the middle.
“The referee gave the free kick, they scored the goal and the impetus was with Glenavon,” he said.
“I approached the referee after the game to see if he could explain the sending off with me but he blanked me.
“I wanted to understand the decision in my head because I have a dressing room full of players who can’t understand why he’s made it and why we’ve lost.
“To be fair there are good referees in this league and guys you can talk to – the level of refereeing is reasonably good.
“Hopefully we don’t get too many of those bad decisions against us this season because we’ve had our fair share of them.”
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 29 May 2012
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