Manager Duncan Ferguson had a Storm Boelo-enforced six-day delay to his Irish League debut – then a wait until the 88th minute on Friday night for a first Glentoran goal but Jordan Stewart’s late header secured a fightback draw away to Premiership leaders Coleraine.

Ferguson – affectionately nicknamed ‘Big Dunc’ across a career which centred on England’s Premier League – admitted after the 1-1 draw and his first point as Glens boss “I enjoyed it when the wee man scored”.

Stewart may be small in stature but it was a big goal as his back-post diving header helped to cancel out a first-half Joel Cooper finish by high-flying Coleraine and give Ferguson a welcome final reward.

"For the first half we were quite passive really, we never gave up a lot of chances...they had one great chance the boy (Joel Cooper) put it in the top corner,” said Ferguson in his post-match BBC Sport NI interview. "Other than that I can’t remember many good chances in the first...we never had any either, we struggled to create chances in the first half, we struggled to get pressure on the ball.

placeholder image — Glentoran manager Duncan Ferguson following the final whistle in Coleraine on his first Irish League game. (Photo by Desmond Loughery/Pacemaker Press)

"We had a wee bit of a tweak at half-time.

"We put more pressure on the ball, we went more man-for-man and it paid off...even though we had to ride our luck a wee bit.

"Obviously you don’t want to be conceding too many chances, which we never did...they’ve scored a lot of goals, they scored five in the last game.

"I think they had two chances in the first half, one goes in the top corner.

"Our shape was very good, we’re the away team.

"We couldn’t get enough pressure on the ball we wanted.

"The second half we put more pressure but we rode our luck...they hit the post, the goalie made another great save.

"But we put more pressure on the ball, we put more pressure on the ball second half and the wee man popped up with a great header.

"Great atmosphere, tactically the teams are good of what I’ve watched.

"They (Coleraine) caused us problems but we dealt with it in the main.

"It was a great game to be involved in.”

And the experienced former Scotland international described his introduction to Irish League life as “football’s football”.

He added: "I’ve managed in the Premier League, I’ve managed in Scotland...the ball’s still round, the goals are still in the same spot, it’s still eleven v eleven.”