Andy Doyle praises 'great reaction' as Glenavon claim first Championship success at Newry City
Andy Doyle praised Glenavon for showing “a great response” as they put last Saturday’s disappointment behind them to secure a first Championship win.
The Lurgan Blues started their second-tier bid on Saturday with a 3-1 home reverse to Ards but bounced back in fine style against Newry City on Tuesday night.
A hat-trick from Ryan Waide and Patrick Burns’ header gave Michael O’Connor’s men their first three points of the campaign with the 4-1 win at the Newry Showgrounds.
The two teams were level at the break as Pablo Andrade cancelled out Waide’s opener for the visitors but Glenavon put their foot to the metal after the restart as Waide took centre-stage by completing his treble.
"It's a great response from the boys,” Doyle told Glenavon’s social media platforms after the game.
"I'll be honest, I thought we were good on Saturday but we just didn't take our chances and Ards did take their chances.
"The boys were excellent tonight again, we took our chances and we probably should have scored more.
"Ryan Waide scores a hat-trick and it's a great reaction from the lads.
"They got a wee bit of a touch at half-time as we should have gone in comfortably but I feel the boys are doing well and hopefully we can build on this.”
Glenavon only made one change from their frustrating day at the office against Ards and Doyle explained the reasons behind that.
He said: “As I said, I thought we were good on Saturday, so it would have been harsh to have dropped players just cause we lost.
"Players lose confidence if you’re just dropping players every time you lose a game.
"This league is tough as we know...Saturday proved it and Tuesday night proved it.
"We know what Stuart King’s teams are going to be like as they are always hard to play against, so we wanted those out there fighting and playing for Glenavon and I felt we all did that.”
Waide, who has previous top-flight experience at the likes of Carrick Rangers and Ballymena United in his career, has now started the campaign with four goals in two games ahead of this weekend’s showdown at home to Strabane Athletic.
Doyle stated: “He’s started really well so here’s hoping he can continue that.
"The hardest thing in football is to score goals – so fair play to him.
"There are going to be no comfortable games in the Championship. You have to win your battles and win the fight before you win the game.
"We have to learn to be favourites in games and deal with it the right way.”
Elsewhere, Newington and Loughgall played out a 2-2 draw at Lakeview Park, whilst it was the same scoreline at Ards as they picked up a share of the spoils against Dundela.
There were three home wins in the Championship as Annagh United, Queen’s University and Warrenpoint Town picked up maximum points from their assignments against Rathfriland Rangers, H&W Welders and Armagh City respectively.
Furthermore, Ballinamallard United had away joy at Institute by clinching a 2-1 victory at the Brandywell, with Sam McClintock’s brace helping Strabane Athletic take the honours at Moyola Park as they proved too strong in a 3-1 success.