‘A great advert for the Irish League’ is a cliché that is repeated so much that you may as well have it as your phrase of choice when teaching your pet parrot how to speak.
Fear not, though; you wouldn’t have heard a peep of that following Monday night’s Sports Direct Premiership clash between Coleraine and Glentoran.
You’d have more so heard the sound of the remote control being lifted to change the channel at half-time.
A match shot out through Sky Sports’ cameras for a UK-wide audience to witness, it turned out to be a wholly forgettable and goalless 90 minutes at a cold and chilly Ballycastle Road that hardened connoisseurs alone would’ve watched in its entirety.
If you scanned social media, the gist was that an actual television advert for the Irish League probably would’ve been more memorable!
But credit should be attributed where it’s due, too. For the criticism aimed in Warren Feeney’s direction in recent times, the Glens kept a clean sheet and produced a solid defensive display that made the point well-earned.
It doesn’t exactly relight their flickering title credentials – they’re 15 points off the pace, with cross-city rivals Linfield looking down unmercifully, and concerns over whether Feeney is the man to turn it around weren’t exactly alleviated – however, following frustrating home defeats to the Blues in the BetMcLean Cup last midweek (2-1) and Carrick Rangers on Saturday past (3-2), it’s a more creditable result despite its lack of remarkability.
Crucially, they stay ahead of Coleraine in fifth-place, too, with Oran Kearney also feeling the heat in recent months.
The Bannsiders rise to 24 points – one worse off than their east Belfast counterparts – and, like Feeney’s charges, have picked up only seven victories in their 16 top-flight encounters this season.
A negative goal difference hardly helps matters and, as a statistical aside, Loughgall and Carrick Rangers in seventh and eighth have a higher combined goal total (50) in league play than these two (48), although four points out of six for the north west side against the Glens and Crusaders plus BetMcLean Cup last-eight progression at Ballymena United’s expense offers a bit of a lift.
It was also the first time since the end of September that Coleraine had drawn a blank, but a shuddering end to their streak of six goalscoring games in a row coincided with the absence of arguably the league’s most in-form player.
Conor McKendry, who was forced to sit out through suspension, could have made a serious difference given his goal-getting exploits.
Despite Matthew Shevlin’s own return from a four-game ban, a player who hit 29 goals in all competitions throughout last term to share the Golden Boot with Cliftonville’s Ronan Hale, it is McKendry who is the man of the moment in blue and white right now.
That the 25-year-old forward was named top-flight Player of the Month for October was no fluke given he stroked in match-winning braces against Newry City and the Crues – although an accompanying fifth yellow card in the latter ruled him out before the first ball was was kicked at The Showgrounds here – as well as two more in a scintillating turnaround 4-1 win over Glenavon.
An equaliser in eventual defeat to Cliftonville didn’t blot the fleet-footed winger’s individual copybook; he has a fast-paced and fearless style of play that electrifies any game of football.
Sky could really have used him. And so, too, could Kearney; the ex-Larne ace just has that spark, that confidence to take anyone on.
Thankfully, his ban started and ended with Glentoran, and one of the top division’s great free spirits can look forward to menacing opposition fullbacks again in the weeks to come.
Featured image from NIFWA Media.
- It’s unfair to put blame at feet of Linfield and Cliftonville for Irish Cup Final crowd disorder
A penny for the thoughts of Linfield and Cliftonville this week. This year’s Irish Cup Final was a spectacular in every sense. Nearly 15,000 packed inside Windsor Park for the biggest-attended domestic fixture in Northern Ireland this century and an occasion to savour that, for the most part, featured backing from both sides that supported… Read more: It’s unfair to put blame at feet of Linfield and Cliftonville for Irish Cup Final crowd disorder - Irish League chiefs must improve provisions in place to attract younger fans and families
Let’s get a basic fact of life out of the way first – no one likes a price hike. No one likes a price hike in the same way that no one likes paying taxes, bills, debts, insurance and other such necessary expenses which, in themselves, are rising amid a general rise in the cost… Read more: Irish League chiefs must improve provisions in place to attract younger fans and families - How the Irish FA’s new ‘Conference Layer’ for intermediate football can be big hit or own goal
Changes to the intermediate football sphere in Northern Ireland have long been touted and, going by the Irish FA’s latest update on the topic, closer than ever to coming to fruition. From the 2026-27 campaign, a new ‘Conference Layer’ will be in effect as part of a radical shake-up of the intermediate levels of the… Read more: How the Irish FA’s new ‘Conference Layer’ for intermediate football can be big hit or own goal - Steven McCullough’s crucial goal in relegation play-off seals him as a Ballymena United great
There’s been a change in priorities for Ballymena United during recent years – albeit not necessarily the type supporters would’ve perhaps wanted. In 2019, the Braidmen were the second best team in the Irish League. Runners-up behind Linfield that year, and just seven points adrift of top spot, the peak years of David Jeffrey’s tenure… Read more: Steven McCullough’s crucial goal in relegation play-off seals him as a Ballymena United great - Ending Cliftonville’s Irish Cup drought proves Jim can fix it… now he must target league glory
Finally, it’s Cliftonville’s year in the Irish Cup. An agonising waiting game ends at last and a drought that lasted 45 painful years is over in one burst of champagne rain. Since 1979, the Reds have contrived to fail in various ways in their pursuit of that elusive ninth Irish Cup – until a man… Read more: Ending Cliftonville’s Irish Cup drought proves Jim can fix it… now he must target league glory
Football Chatters 
Leave a comment