It’s been some years since the ‘battle of the Glens’ involved a top two clash so tomorrow’s visit of current leaders Glentoran and second-placed Glenavon is eagerly awaited by both sets of fans.

Marty Quinn is aiming for another win. Photo by Presseye.

Marty Quinn and his squad are also looking forward to the game in a very positive frame of mind, “They had a great win on Tuesday against Cliftonville and they’ll be confident but I’ll have our boys confident as well. We’ll be going into this game with the belief that we are capable of beating Glentoran. It’ll be a completely different game (from Tuesday against Dungannon) but I want another three points so bring them on.”

Tony Grant has been looking fresh and fully fit this season and is currently Glenavon’s leading scorer having bagged a brace in two of the last three games.

Sammy Stewart has received his International clearance from the SFA and will come into the squad.

James Costello is a doubt as he is a very close family friend of Stuart Wilson, the young Rathfriland boy who tragically died in hospital following a boating accident at Cranfield this week. James will be attending the funeral on Saturday and understandably may not be in the right frame of mind to play a football match.

“I’m hoping for another big crowd and the fans getting behind us tomorrow. It’s a big, big game but it’s time we beat the Glens and we’ll certainly be giving it a go” was Marty’s view this evening. In fact it’s almost ten years since the Lurgan Blues beat the Belfast Glens in the League: a 3-0 win at Mourneview Park back on 30 September 2000.

Glentoran have been in free-scoring form this season whilst keeping it tight at the back,. In the five League games played so far Scott Young’s side have banged in an impressive 13 goals whilst conceding only one so Quinn knows his whole team will have to perform well if he is to fulfil that aim of six points from this week’s two games.

Daryl Fordyce has found his scoring touch after Young moved him to his preferred role at the head of the Glens attack including a five goal haul in the opening day fixture against a shell-shocked Lisburn Distillery. Club skipper Paul Leeman is fit again after breaking a leg back in March but Scott Young is unlikely to tinker with a defence that has kept four clean sheets in the opening five games so expect to see Oval veteran Colin Nixon at the heart of the Glens defence alongside Sean Ward.

Shane McCabe left The Oval for Shamrock Park this week on deadline day and Gary Hamilton, on loan from Glentoran, would be ineligible to play, even if he was fit.

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Head to Head

Sat	20/02/10	PRE	Glenavon	1 – 3	Glentoran	View events	More info
Sat	28/11/09	PRE	Glentoran	2 – 0	Glenavon	View events	More info
Tue	10/11/09	LEC	Glenavon	2 – 3	Glentoran		More info
Sat	31/10/09	LEC	Glentoran	2 – 2	Glenavon		More info
Tue	15/09/09	PRE	Glenavon	2 – 2	Glentoran	View events	More info
Sat	03/01/09	PRE	Glentoran	2 – 0	Glenavon	View events	More info
Tue	25/11/08	PRE	Glentoran	2 – 1	Glenavon	View events	More info
Sat	25/10/08	PRE	Glenavon	1 – 2	Glentoran	View events	More info
Sat	22/03/08	PRE	Glentoran	3 – 0	Glenavon		More info
Sat	01/12/07	PRE	Glenavon	1 – 2	Glentoran		More info

Match Officials

Referee: D. Loughery, Assistants: P. Munn, N. Murphy, 4th Official: D. Dunlop.

As we welcome Dungannon Swifts to Mourneview Park for Carling Premiership game number 5 tomorrow (Tuesday) night Marty Quinn is looking for the right sort of reaction from his players after Ballymena United brought Glenavon’s unbeaten start to the Season to an end last Friday night.

Kyle Neil and Ballymena's Michael Smith. Photo by Presseye.com

Kyle Neill was an injury concern after he limped off on Friday night with an achilles problem for which he has been receiving intensive treatment from the Club Sports Therapist Gary Hazley. Fortunately it looks like Kyle has responded well and should be okay to start tomorrow night. Marty is contemplating one or perhaps two changes from the side that lost to Ballymena.

“We’re looking for a clean sheet and to score a goal or two” Marty told the website this evening, “The players were down on Friday and hurting. I hope they were hurting badly and they’ll come out tomorrow night with all guns blazing.”

Sammy Stewart’s International clearance has not come through in time from the SFA but Marty hopes to have the 19 year old midfielder available for selection on Saturday against the current League leaders Glentoran.

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Niall Henderson misses out for the visitors after his sending off against Portadown on Friday. Dungannon, who have just signed former Glenavon and Birmingham defender Michael McKerr, bounced back from an opening day defeat to Newry City with a battling 2-1 victory over Linfield but have lost the last two games, 3-0 away to Cliftonville and a 0-1 home defeat on Friday to Portadown.

Head to Head

Match Officials

Referee: K. Halliday, Assistants: D. Steele, M. Millar, 4th Official: R. Hetherington.

Glenavon and Ballymena United both go into Friday night’s game (7:45pm kick-off) on the back of 3-1 wins. That Glenavon victory, against Donegal Celtic, kept the Lurgan Blues 100% League record going and the Sky Blues win at Shamrock Park was an excellent response to a heavy 0-4 home defeat the previous week by the West Belfast side.

Tony Grant celebrates his and Glenavon's second goal. Photo © Angus Bicker/ Presseye

Tony Grant’s two goals played a big part in that Glenavon win and Marty Quinn was fulsome in his praise for the Balbriggan man who showed great loyalty to the Club which has taken him to its heart over the years. Speaking after the DC game Marty said “We could have lost Tony. I always wanted to keep him but in the summer I knew other clubs were interested. Fortunately Tony has a great love for this club and showed the allegiance to the Club I want from all my players.”

Conor Walsh will be back in the squad after his one game ban and Mark Haughey has recovered from a chest infection and will also be added to the panel for the game.

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Roy Walker’s new signing Nathan Hanley scored one goal and set up the other two. The ex-Linfield apprentice signed from Hull City sent in the crosses for the first and third goals, chipping in himself with a début goal to put United 2-0 ahead. Striker Gary McCutcheon, released by the Ports in the summer, nodded in the clincher at the back post from Hanley’s cross after Tim Mouncey had pulled a goal back to give momentary hope to the home side.

Portadown's Wesley Boyle and Ballymena's Nathan Hanley. Photo by Presseye.

United manager Roy Walker said after the game “We were terrible against Donegal Celtic last week and we simply had to turn it around. It wasn’t good enough and this was a total transformation.”

Glenavon boss Marty Quinn feels it is better to face a United side with a good result under its belt rather than a ‘wounded animal’ looking to strike back, “It won’t be easy but those are the sort of games you want. You don’t want them coming here on the back of a bad run because they are going to get better. Any team that goes to Shamrock Park and comes away with a victory will be a formidable opponent and we certainly don’t underestimate any team.”

Special Guests

Brian Magee, European Super Middleweight Boxing Champion will be attending the game as a special guest of Match Sponsor, Glenavon President Gordon Irwin. The former Ballymena United and Glenavon goal keeper Maurice Allen will also be a guest at the game.

Head to Head

Match Officials

Referee: D. Malcolm, Assistants: E. Shanks, D. Hamilton, 4th Official: S. Creaney

Marty Quinn is keen to keep Glenavon’s 100% start to the league season going as we welcome back to Mourneview Park Donegal Celtic on their return to the top tier of Irish League football but he is under no illusions about the challenge his team will face. “I congratulated the players after the win last Friday night but I warned them that it will be another tough game against DC and we have certainly prepared very thoroughly for the game in training this week. Jeff (Montgomery) and David (Dorrian) watched their game against Ballymena last Saturday and they were impressed.

“I’ll be bringing young Cameron Grieve and Chris Lavery, who scored two goals for the Reserves last week, into the squad and Lee Windrum will be getting some match practice with the Reserves tomorrow.”

Marty Tabb has seen his DC side bounce back with a thumping 4-0 win away to Ballymena United after suffering a 1-3 defeat to Crusaders on the opening day. If Glenavon needed any further warning against taking Saturday’s visitors for granted, that comprehensive win at Warden Street should have dispelled any possible complacency.

The DC side should feature a number of familiar faces with Paul Carvill who moved to Suffolk Road in the Summer and DC skipper Stephen McAlorum whose play-off goal at the Riverside Stadium back in May earned his side promotion and relegated Institute to the Championship.

Ballymena's Gary Haveron and Donegal Celtic's Stephen McAlorum. Photo by Presseye.

Striker Mark Dickson, who had once been on the verge of signing for Glenavon, has been getting some useful game time as he rebuilds his fitness following an injury-plagued season at Seaview.

Referring to the victory over Ballymena, Marty Tabb told the DC website “They were on the back of a scoreless draw with Linfield at Windsor Park and would have been on a high – and I dare say they expected to beat us. But from start to finish we didn’t let them play and we allowed ourselves to play with a great deal of confidence.

“But that’s that. We have three points and next up we are back on the road to Glenavon and we must start again. It will make the training ahead more enjoyable but beating Ballymena United will not soften our focus.”

Conor Walsh is suspended for Glenavon following his dismissal for two yellow cards against Portadown but striker Mark Miskimmin looks set to play as he has made a good recovery from a groin strain picked up in training ahead of the Portadown game and took a full part in Thursday night’s training session.

Glenavon’s goal scoring hero against Portadown, Brendan Shannon, was signed from Donegal Celtic in January after spending his formative years at Donegal Celtic Park. After making his Glenavon début in a Mid Ulster Cup Semi Final victory over Dungannon Swifts in March, the young fullback has earned himself an unbroken run in the side with his impressive defending and willingness to get forward whenever possible.

The game tomorrow will be covered live on BBC Radio Ulster.

Brendan Shannon gets forward against Portadown. Photo by Stephen Greenaway.

Head to Head

(Click on team name for Squad info. Click on score for Match info)

Match Officials

Referee: D. Malcolm, Assistants: P. Munn. T. Fairfield, 4th Official: A. Davey.

The first Mid-Ulster derby of the season is already upon us as we host Portadown tonight (Friday) in the Carling Premiership, kick-off 7:45pm.

The game is Glenavon’s second of the campaign following an excellent opening day win at Coleraine but Portadown has yet to get its league campaign under way, having been involved in the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds. Ronnie McFall’s squad should be match fit, having played four Europa League games, claiming the scalp of Skonto Riga before losing narrowly 2-3 on aggregate to Qarabag from Azerbaijan. Tall striker Richard Lecky scored two of the goals to ensure the Ports progressed against Skonto with Kevin Braniff also impressing in the team’s encouraging foray into Europe.

Trevor Molloy is back in the Glenavon squad having missed the Coleraine game through serving a one-game suspension. “It gives me a nice selection headache to have Trevor back in the squad”, Marty Quinn told the website. “The guys are all buzzing after the win on Saturday and they’ve been very buoyant in training this week so we’ll be looking to take that into the game with Portadown.

“The Mid-Ulster derby is something special and Portadown are a good strong side but it’s about time we turned them over as we haven’t beaten them for a while. It’ll be a tough game as they have had a good run in Europe and they’ll certainly be match fit so we’ll have to be at our best.”

Actually it was back in April 2008 that Glenavon last came away with the Mid-Ulster bragging rights after Steven McCain made himself a hero with an 86th minute winner at Shamrock Park. For the last Glenavon league win at Mourneview Park you have to go all the way back to 30th October 1999 when the Lurgan Blues recorded a 3-1 victory over the Ports.

On a more encouraging note, Saturday’s victory was the first time Glenavon has won it’s opening league fixture since a 4-0 win at Mourneview over Newry Town way back at the start of the 1994/95 season, Glenn Ferguson (2), Lee Doherty and Sean Collins with the goals – and Spike is still playing!

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Tonight’s Sponsors

Match Sponsor	Ball Sponsor	Man of the Match Sponsor
Northern Bank	Excel Financial	Logan Darren Harper