Tomorrow evening, we will face Carrick Rangers in the first game of the new Stephen Baxter era, at the Bet McLean Oval, in the Toal’s County Antrim Shield Quarter Final.
Until this weekend’s much-needed league win over Cliftonville, Carrick’s only bright spot this season had been a 4-0 victory over Championship leaders Bangor at Clandeboye Park in the previous round of the Shield, following an opening-day victory over Glenavon.
Manager Stuart King was fired as a result of his dismal run of results, and two veteran players took over: defender Michael Surgenor and former striker Curtis Allen.
Carrick have only won the County Antrim Shield once in their history, and it came against Glentoran.
In January 1993, the two sides met in Rangers’ first CAS Final appearance, with David Montgomery scoring a second-half equaliser that forced a rematch. The following month, another Montgomery goal proved decisive, as Carrick defeated the Glens 2-1 to return the trophy to Taylor’s Avenue for the first (and so far only) time.
The teams last met in the competition in November, at the Semi-Final stage of last season’s tournament. At that point in the season, Carrick had already taken 6 league points from Glentoran (and would add another point at The Oval a few months later), but this match proved surprisingly easy for Warren Feeney’s side, with goals from Shay McCartan, Junior, Rory Donnelly, and Paddy McClean propelling the Glens to the Final with a 4-0 victory.
Declan Devine: “Our second half performance and eventual triumph over Linfield on Friday night was a fantastic display of skill and spirit from the players, and it should serve as a precedent for how we should approach any game we play.
Friday night demonstrated the squad’s commitment, integrity, and skill. Following a difficult run in the Premiership, we showed Linfield a little too much respect in the first half and were somewhat shaken by the early goal. That’s why Daniel’s first-half performance in goal was so important for us.
At halftime, we agreed on what we needed to do and went out in a much more positive manner, not giving Linfield players time to settle and taking control of the situation. Each of the three players that scored accepted their goal quite well. It’s encouraging to see three goals with such diverse objectives. So it was a terrific effort and result, but it sets the benchmark for future games, which begin tonight.
I’d like to thank our supporters for rallying behind us on Friday night. You stayed with us even when we were down a goal and were terrific when we came back into the game in the second half. When we play well, the fans stick with us; when we play poorly,
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