Paddy McCourt confident there's even more to come from Glentoran's 'ruthless finisher' after Cliftonville stunner
Paddy McCourt hailed “ruthless finisher” Jordan Jenkins after his moment of magic helped Glentoran extend their unbeaten Premiership run to four matches following Saturday’s 1-0 triumph over Cliftonville.
The clock hadn’t yet reached 120 seconds when Jenkins’ flicked touch was swiftly followed by a sublime volley which ultimately proved the difference at The Oval with Declan Devine’s side leapfrogging their opponents into third spot.
Jenkins has taken the long road to becoming one of Glentoran’s main attacking threats, joining the East Belfast club in 2021 but sent on loan spells to Portadown, Dungannon Swifts and Championship outfit Dundela, where the 24-year-old showed the clearest sign yet of his undoubted ability by netting 23 league goals.
His weekend stunner marked a second of the new Premiership campaign and he has now started in each of the last four matches, playing a key role in an attacking force showing signs of genuine promise alongside the likes of David Fisher and Dylan Connolly.
"He went away to Dundela last season and scored a lot of goals,” said assistant manager McCourt. “The one thing we never doubt with JJ is that when he gets a chance he’ll put it in the net.
"He isn’t the finished article and can get better in his game, but he’s a ruthless finisher – we see it in training every day that he knows where the back of the net is.
"That goal today is pure instinct – you can’t do a drill in training that helps someone get better at something like that. It was a touch and a superb finish...I actually can’t wait to watch it back because I haven’t seen it yet. It was a really great finish.”
In truth, Glentoran should have been out of sight heading into the final stages with Fisher denied twice by impressive Reds goalkeeper David Odumosu while summer recruit Connolly posed a constant threat.
There have been false dawns in the past with the Glens seemingly turning a corner before ultimately falling flat, but you get a sense Devine is building the foundations of something significant and he’s keen to bring the fans along with him.
"Declan has played here as part of a Glentoran team and the one thing he always says is ‘if the supporters here see you giving 100% they’ll come with us’,” he added. “If we get that with the quality we have we should do alright.
"First and foremost, everybody who puts on that shirt has to give everything and I think the lads are doing that. Credit to them.
"We’re getting better. We had a poor start against Crusaders and were all a bit taken aback by the performance, but we’ve worked out now it was a lot of young lads playing here for the first time and the nerves got to them – they’ve shrugged that off.
"Frankie Hvid had a tough night against Crusaders and has came back the last four games really well. We’re delighted with the squad.
"We tried adding to the squad yesterday with a few and couldn’t get them so we hope we might be able to do that if there’s a free agent out there – we’ll try that over the next week or so.”