FULL POST-MATCH QUOTES: 'Disaster day' - Glenavon win wait goes on after double red card blow and injury woe
Glenavon’s search for a first win of the Irish League season must now go beyond six games – with the opening 22 minutes crucial to defeat on Saturday by 2-0 against Dungannon Swifts.
With both clubs in search of a first victory in the Sports Direct Premiership campaign, stakes proved high in Lurgan.
However, Glenavon lost Kyle McClelland to an early injury, conceded to Thomas Maguire and had Harry Murphy sent off early on.
Kealan Dillon’s slick free-kick before the break doubled the visitors’ lead then Glenavon captain Barney McKeown was sent off around the hour mark.
Here’s the verdict of Glenavon assistant manager Colin Coates:
OVERALL VERDICT…
"It's probably been the story of the season a wee bit...every week we seem to have something go wrong.
"It's been a combination of things over the first six games.
"Losing 'Murph' (Harry Murphy) so early in the game...again, conceding a soft goal no doubt about it.
"It's been a frustrating six weeks and today probably a cumulative effect where everything seemed to come together and make for a disaster day.
"There's only certain things you can control in a game.
"Losing Kyle (McClelland) early on when you've worked on shape all week sets you back a bit.
"Conceding the goal puts you on the back foot and losing 'Murph' even further on the back foot.
"You're having to rejig your shape, Dungannon's tails are up at that point and they're confident knocking the ball about.
"We're still trying to rejig things to give you a threat at the top end of the pitch and also make sure you don't concede again.
"Then we concede again off what I felt was a soft free-kick, I'd like to see it again...Dillon whips it into the far side.
"Jacob (Carney, Glenavon goalkeeper) might be disappointed but I have to see it again."
Coates added: "We were really determined coming into the game today to try and get our season started.
"That first 20 minutes it all went out the window just the ways things panned out and it made for a difficult day.
"But they certainly didn't throw the towel in that second half.
"It would've been easy to go and lose four, five or six today but they didn't, they dug in and done their jobs."
POSITIVE RESPONSE TO SETBACKS...
"But then you have to look at the second half....the players were a credit, the effort and work-rate they put in.
"Sometimes in football you end up landing on things in certain aspects...Kris Lowe ended up at centre-back with Niall Quinn and they looked pretty assured.
"Young Ben Wilson went into midfield, worked his socks off and was unbelievable, Paul McGovern and Jack Malone (too).
"You could see in that second half down to nine men and 2-0 down but he (Quinn) never got flustered, he went and did his job."
SECOND RED CARD...
"Losing Barney for the last 30-odd minutes...again I think he's given him yellow cards for two incidents of dissent within the space of seconds.
"When do they become separate incidents instead of one incident? I'm not too sure...maybe on another day it's a quick word with Barney saying 'you're walking a tight line, take it easy'.
"But Jamie (Robinson, referee) has to make the decisions and, probably by the letter of the law, if it is two instances of dissent he's probably well within his rights to do that but I suppose it's up to him managing the game as a referee.
"But we can't control that and we're down to nine men at that point.”
MOVING FORWARD…
"Credit to the players on the pitch, they worked their socks off, trying to get forward when they could.
"But we just couldn't get that opportunity fully opened up for us to maybe get a goal back and make them slightly nervous.
"Once you're 2-0 down and down to nine men it's always going to be an uphill task.
"But you have to give all the credit to the players left for the effort and over the next few weeks we're going to need that and more.
"We need to go back to basics, strip it back a wee bit and be more resolute.
"We're coughing up far too many cheap goals.
"For the players we have it's hard to legislate the way they're defending at the minute.
"There's no point me sugar-coating it or making excuses...the goals we have given away last week and again the first today are not good enough.
"It's schoolboy defending and we need to work out solutions...whether that's personnel or formations or whatever it is, we need to work out ways to eradicate those goals because at the minute it's absolutely killing us.
"There's no doubt about it that confidence is low at the minute but we've got a good group of players."