My injury ravaged squad gave me one of the most satisfying wins as Carrick Rangers manager, says proud Stuart King

The Amber Army had lost three successive games in the Premiership but left Glentoran stunned when two goals in as many minutes from Nedas Maciulaitis and Danny Purkis after the break sealed a 2-1 win for the hosts.

The ‘Gers squad had been left low in numbers due to injuries but King credited the players at his disposal for giving their all for the club.

"It's one of my most satisfying wins since I've been manager,” he told Carrick Rangers TV.

"I genuinely believe that we were dreading going into today.

"We had eight fit senior players, we were able to put out a starting eleven but three of them are carrying knocks and shouldn't have played.

"They've put the boots on for me today and we had seven kids on the bench.

"It is such a satisfying win for us and when you go 1-0 down with five minutes played and you're dreading it, we were able to see the game out to half-time and obviously we got a reaction in the second half."

The Glens held a half-time lead through Marcus Kane’s fourth-minute goal but King spoke proudly of Carrick’s “fighting” identity as a main reason for the comeback.

"I told the players to take the shackles off at half-time and play with more freedom and they answered me in a big style,” he added.

"Kurtis Forysthe has broken his nose in the first half, he's plastered in blood and comes out in the second half and plays for me.

"Mark Surgenor throws his body on the line with a couple of minutes to go and takes one on the ribs.

"That's what we're all about.

"We know we're small, we know everybody chips in and we've got to fight for everything.

"If we lose that, then we are losing our identity as a football club.

"I genuinely believe when we fight and that includes volunteers, staff, players all fighting for a cause, then we won't be far off."