Sometimes my passion goes over the top but I want to do well, beams Carrick Rangers manager Stuart King after fightback against Glentoran

The 42-year-old simply couldn’t keep his emotions under control after watching his team produce a fantastic second half revival to help them nick a precious point against erratic Glentoran at the BetMcLean Oval on Saturday.

Warren Feeney’s men appeared to be in cruise control as first half goals from Bobby Burns and David Fisher earned the team a standing ovation on the way off at the break.

But shrewd King worked the oracle during the half-time cuppa, changing his line-up and formation. He was rewarded when Andy Mitchell thundered home a beauty with 23 minutes left.

King was then dancing with delight late on when wily substitute Curtis Allen picked up a cross from Danny Gibson before whipping home at the near post.

It was the second time in four days that Glentoran had blown a two-goal lead – they did the same against Cliftonville – and, their frustrated supporters vented their anger at the finish.

“If I try to curb my passion, I’ll not be the manager I am,” laughed King in the aftermath of another gutsy, never-say-die performance from his boys.

“I work my socks off to try and improve my football club, so when you go to places like Glentoran and get a result, you’ve got to enjoy it. Sometimes my passion goes OTT (over the top), but it’s in me; I want to do well, I want to succeed.

“It’s a massive point for us...at half-time the game was done. I took full responsibility for the first half showing; my fault. I got the formation wrong.

“We were two-nil down, I’d nothing to lose so I changed things up a bit. Every one of the boys played a part in the revival, including the substitutes. To be honest, I thought we were unlucky not to take all three points.

“Had Glentoran scored a third goal, the game was definitely done.

“But when Andy Mitchell scored, it gave us a bit of momentum. And, when I made a triple substitution (introducing Kyle Cherry, Emmett McGuckin and Allen), it helped give us a new impetus.

“The difference with Carrick Rangers these days is we have players sitting on the (substitutes’) bench that can come on and have an impact on games. We are getting stronger as a squad and the three lads that came on made a massive difference.”

Rangers are now locked in a four-way battle for a top six place.

King added: “We had 40 points last season and we finished eighth in the table. I want to improve on that; that’s my job to keep improving the team. We are still in a battle for a top six place, which is great, but I’m not going to get carried away.

“We’ll take one game at a time. Regarding our form, we’ve beaten Coleraine and we were unlucky not to get something from the Cliftonville game the other week and now we’ve left the Oval with a well-deserved point.”

Glentoran manager Warren Feeney blames his team’s latest collapses on a poor mentality.

“We got ourselves into a great position, but you can’t afford to play for 45 minutes in this League,” said the former Northern Ireland international striker.

“I’ve always said two-nil is a horrible score line and, we really had chances to build on our two goals.

“This is why this club hadn’t been challenging (for trophies), we must have a change of mentality moving forward. The second half wasn’t good enough. This is why this club hasn’t done anything in a long time.”