All focus is back on football for Glentoran

All focus was on the incident between Glens goalkeeper Aaron McCarey and teammate Bobby Burns in the wake of Coleraine’s equaliser.

As we all know McCarey saw red following his altercation with Burns and is now set for a spell on the sidelines.

On reflection of the game boss Mick McDermott was obviously disappointed with the ending of the match, but he was impressed with the way his side played against the Bannsiders.

“Last week’s game was an entertaining one,” he told the club website.

“I thought we sat off them too much in the first ten minutes, which allowed them space to play. That is how they got their lead.

“But from the last twenty-five minutes of the first half we were the dominant team.

“We had four shots on target and plenty of control.

“We continued that after the break and apart from the poor goal we conceded, we were comfortable and played well in the second half.

“It was very frustrating to only get a point through losing a very preventable goal, against an experienced team who we know are very good on the counterattack.

“But I can’t fault the effort and commitment our players showed, even when we went down to 10-men.”

Plenty has been said about the sending off in the past week, but McDermott says it has now been dealt with by the club.

They will be without the keeper for the next three games, starting with today’s clash at home to Portadown, but the Glens boss says Ross Glendinning and Elliott Morris are more than able to step in.

“We have dealt with it in-house and within club procedures, which is the only way to do it,” said McDermott.

“Aaron has accepted responsibility for his actions and has apologised to Bobby and to his teammates and now we will be without him for three games.

“I have always stated that we have a strong group of goalkeepers in Ross and Elliott, and I know both are more than capable of coming in and doing very well in the Danske Bank Premiership.”

On today’s game McDermott added: “The Ports have had a difficult start to the league campaign, but they’re a young team with some very talented players and Matthew (Tipton) always makes sure they try to play the game the right way.

“We’re under no illusions that their supporters will be well behind them today, given the historic spice added to Glentoran-Portadown matches, but our boys are well prepared and well up for it so we will definitely be looking for a very strong performance and the three points.”