Glentoran coach Tim McCann believes next month’s BetMcLean Cup final against ‘Big Two’ rivals Linfield will be one of the showcase occasions of the season.

The East Belfast boys booked their place in the decider for the second successive season – they were beaten by Cliftonville last March – following a gut-churning extra-time win over Coleraine at The Oval on Tuesday night.

Strangely, it will be the first time the Belfast rivals will have contested a final in 16 years – the last was back in 2010/11 when the Glens triumphed in the Senior Shield decider.

The tournament, of course, has been boosted this season by a potential European flavour because the eventual winners will book a slot in the end-of-season play-off final.

placeholder image — Pat Hoban celebrates opening the scoring for Glentoran. (Photo by Andrew McCarroll/Pacemaker Press)

With the Blues having already claimed their place in the final following last week’s win over Ballymena United at Windsor Park, the Glens had to endure 30 minutes of extra-time to see off Ruaidhri Higgins’ boys.

Pat Hoban shot the Glens into the lead just before half-time, but Joel Cooper produced a wonder strike midway through the second half to level things up.

Just two minutes into extra-time, Jordan Jenkins headed the priceless winner after Coleraine goalkeeper Ryan Schofield had pulled off a miraculous save from Joe Thomson.

“It sets up what should be a fantastic day out in front of what will be a sell-out crowd,” beamed McCann. “It was a real slog, but the boys deserve all the credit.

“In games like that you need hunger, passion and character, we had that in abundance. The fans want to see the boys giving everything for the jersey, it’s something the manager asks for – and they are delivering.

“He has been trying to instil that in the team from the minute he came through the door. We had that against Dungannon Swifts at the weekend, and we had it again in abundance against Coleraine.

“It was a semi-final, so there were going to be periods of the game we were not going to have the ball.

“Coleraine are a fantastic side and they caused up problems, but you’ve got to defend both boxes – I thought we were outstanding.

“It now sets up a magical final against Linfield – there is no better team to play against. Last year (against Cliftonville) was special, even though we narrowly lost the game.

“This final is a really special occasion – and this will be even bigger. In saying that, we can afford to put it on the back burner because we now have so many important league games coming up.

“Our immediate focus will be on Drumaness Mills, who we face on Saturday with a place in the quarter-finals of the Irish Cup up for grabs.”

Coleraine boss Higgins believes his team shot themselves in the foot.

“We conceded two poor goals, and that’s disappointing,” he said. “We would have loved to have got to a cup final, absolutely.

“It is a disappointment, but we have the chance to get into the quarter-finals of the Irish Cup when we go to Carrick Rangers on Saturday – that's now our main focus.”