Glentoran coach Tim McCann declared “that’s why we brought him to the club” after Joe Thomson marked his debut by scoring a brace in their 2-1 Premiership win over Loughgall.

Scottish midfielder Thomson was originally meant to join the East Belfast club in the summer but ultimately arrived on Thursday after the Glens agreed an undisclosed fee with Larne.

The 28-year-old won two Premiership titles during his time at Inver Park alongside playing a part in creating Irish League history by becoming the first team to qualify for the UEFA Conference League with Thomson starting in five of their six League Phase matches.

Former Derry City ace Thomson wasted no time in showing what he can add to Declan Devine’s side by scoring a quickfire double late in the second half to help Glentoran extend their unbeaten run to 12 matches across all competitions.

placeholder image — Glentoran's Joe Thomson celebrates with his team-mates after scoring from the penalty spot to secure success against Loughgall. (Photo by David Maginnis/Pacemaker Press)

Thomson’s last match for Larne came against his new side in a Co Antrim Shield showpiece decider and McCann says Saturday’s showing is exactly why they were keen to acquire his services.

"Credit to Joe Thomson because he was struggling with an injury in the last 15 minutes but we had no more subs because we’d put everyone on trying to win the game,” he said. "It goes to show the character he has and that’s why we brought him to the club.

"He steps up with two goals and that’s the type of player he is.

"Ciaran Coll too on his debut coming back from three months out...he has done one week of training and I thought he was fantastic.

"These are the type of characters we want and who will help to build the culture at Glentoran Football Club.”

Glentoran had to work hard for their victory after falling behind in the first half through a fine Nathaniel Ferris finish and even at 1-1 they relied on Daniel Gyollai making two superb saves, including one from point blank range to deny Pablo Andrade, to keep them on level terms before Thomson held his nerve to slam home a late penalty.

It helps continue the Glens’ momentum heading into a crunch Irish Cup clash against ‘Big Two’ rivals Linfield on Friday evening.

"You look at 1-1 with the couple of saves that Dan makes and the blocks being made and balls being cleared off the line,” added McCann. "That’s exactly what the fans want to see.

"If this match had have ended up 1-1 then I think the fans still would have applauded the players off the pitch because they seen that they are giving everything for the jersey.

"If you noticed, when we got the equaliser we ran into the net, got the ball and set it back on the halfway line to try and get a winner, which is what we’re all about.

"Fingers crossed that momentum is building. We go into Friday night with a bit of momentum and hopefully we can get into the next round of the Irish Cup.

"It was huge coming here (Lakeview Park) and winning after Tuesday because a lot of teams would rest on their laurels, but everyone dug in and we got the result. Now this is over we’ll get back to work and it’s onto the next one.”