Chris Lavery sparkles as Glentoran march on after beating Ards in Irish Cup

The 4-1 victory, with Jay Magee grabbing the other goal, flattered Ards, who were torn apart by a rampant Glentoran.

Lavery played dazzling football, that saw Ards chasing shadows across The Oval surface all night.

If the Red & Blues turn in this sort of performance against Cliftonville in next month’s League Cup final, they could be embarrassed on an even bigger stage.

Glentoran on the hand, seemed to quickly forget their recent losing streak.

The home side started brightly, putting the Ards defence under severe pressure. In the eighth minute.

Lavery ghosted past Greg Hall before cutting the ball into the path of Jonathan Smith, but the young forward’s shot ballooned over the bar from around eight yards.

Ards’ first chance of the match arrived in the 18th minute when David McAllister deep cross found Gary Dorrian at the back post. His curling 10-yard effort from the right-side of the six-yard box didn’t to turn enough to find the top corner.

Within a minute it was 1-0 to Glentoran. Left-back Steven McCullough, who once spent a season on loan at Ards, hit a 25-yard thunderbolt towards the top corner, that goalkeeper Ryan Brown pushed into the air.

Former Dungannon Swifts man Lavery reacted first, volleying the ball into the unguarded net from six-yards.

It was game, set and match in the 25th minute. Lavery got the better of Greg Hall on the right-side of the penalty box before driving the ball across the box and into the bottom corner from 10-yards.

It could have been 3-0 in the 32nd minute. Jonathan Smith waltzed through the Ards defence before delivering a weak effort that was easily gathered by Brown.

Ards pulled a goal-back in the 44th minute that their first half performance certainly didn’t merit. A David McAillster corner-kick was headed home from a yard by centre-back Denver Gage.

Glentoran scored an almost identical goal 60 seconds into the new half. An inswinging Lavery corner was powered home from inside the six-yard box by Ards old boy Jay Magee.

Lavery, the best player on the pitch by some distance, had a number of chances to complete his hat-trick.

Brown denied him with a close range save in the 50th minute, while he fired over the bar after a fine run in 63rd. Again, in the 90th minute, he turned Kyle Buckley inside-out, before curling a shot over the bar.

Then, in stoppage time, the lively winger hit the foot of the post when he looked certain to score.Finally, his hat-trick arrived in the second minute of stoppage time. Lavery collected a short corner, beat two Ards players, and swept the ball past Brown. This was Lavery and Glentoran’s night.

Glentoran: Hogg; Holland, Birney, Magee, McCullough; Scullion (55 McMenamin), Gordon, Morrow (75 Gibson), Lavery; McCaffrey, Smith (84 Cafolla)

Subs Not Used: Henderson, Hamill

Ards: Brown; Hall, Arthur (59 Browne), Gage, Buckley; McCullough, Dorrian, Arthurs; Baker (78 Boyd), D. McAllister; O’Neill (HT Carson)

Subs Not Used: E. McAllister, Warwick

Ref: Ross Dunlop.