Stephen McDonnell delighted to have 'fabulous talent' back at Glenavon as four debutants shine in routine Irish Cup success

It took Darren Clarke, who joined from Galway United ahead of the January transfer window, only 20 minutes to make his mark for the Lurgan Blues by opening the scoring before Peter Campbell doubled the visitors lead shortly after.

Another recent recruit, James Doona, also got a debut goal moments after the break and Jack Malone rounded out a comfortable 4-0 success over the Championship’s bottom side from the penalty spot following a foul on Doran.

David Toure started in defence and goalkeeper Mark Byrne made his maiden club appearance after Rory Brown’s departure to Coleraine.

Former Shamrock Rovers winger Doona was particularly impressive and McDonnell was pleased with how quickly all four were able to adapt into a new system.

"We always say to the forward players that it’s all about numbers and he (Doona) scored and assisted,” he told the club’s media channel. “A lot of his general play was quite good.

"The addition of James and Darren in the wide areas means we have two wingers who are two-footed, can go inside or outside and for me that is extremely pleasing because this is what we want the team to look like.

"To have that and to also have the quality to then go and make things happen is extremely pleasing. Darren’s goal was extremely well-taken and he’s taken a wee bit of a knock – nothing serious but we’ve had to get him off at half-time.

"Every time he got on the ball you can see he’s unpredictable in what he’s doing too, like James, and it’s a full-back’s nightmare. I thought David Toure defensively was sound and Mark really steady.

"They all dealt with the game very comfortably. It can be tricky putting so many players in, but we were pleased and the lads that have been here kept us looking very much like ourselves, made us tick and everyone played their part.”

Doran was recalled from his loan spell with Championship club Annagh United last weekend having spent the first-half of this season at the BMG Arena.

The 19-year-old came off the bench at Breda Park to play the final half-hour and having made 19 Premiership appearances in 2022/23, McDonnell feels the young midfielder can add further quality to his squad.

"Jamie is a fabulous talent,” he said. “Since we came to the club we’ve been eager to get him back and knew we had to wait until the January window.

"He’s an incredibly talented player, especially on the half-turn. He came on and the first two balls he received he went backwards and that’s not what we want from Jamie. We told him to have an awareness and scan of the space behind you and you see what he does with the goal in picking it up on the half-turn, carries to the box and wins a penalty.

“We’re extremely happy to have Jamie back at the club because he adds even more quality to what we already have.”