Fuming Declan Devine yesterday branded James Singleton’s red card as disgraceful after Glentoran crashed against champions Larne at the BetMcLean Oval.
Goals from Andy Ryan and skipper Cian Bolger earned Tiernan Lynch’s men their first win in the Sports Direct Premiership since September 27. But Glentoran’s penalty kick hoodoo struck for the third successive week – Finley Thorndike was the latest culprit to miss from the spot.
It was Singleton’s dismissal that enraged his manager. The game erupted for all the wrong reasons 17 minutes from time when the Glentoran defender chopped down Larne substitute Dylan Sloan, who then appeared to headbutt his opponent.
Singleton was initially issued with a yellow card by referee Evan Boyce, before both players received a straight red.
“James takes a headbutt in the face; he gets up and the player (Sloan) goes for him again and he (Singleton) tries to protect himself. I just don’t know what he (the referee) seen,” said a frustrated Devine.
“In my opinion, Singy was sent off for nothing. Yes, he committed a bad tackle (on Sloan), which he took a yellow card for. His dismissal was totally unfair.
“Singy is one of the most honest players I’ve ever worked with. He is not stupid enough to retaliate, but he was more than entitled to protect himself.
“He’s got a busted face and a busted eye – all from the initial headbutt. What is he supposed to do?
“Is he supposed to take another slap? Is he supposed to put his hands behind his back and say, have another dab at me?
“The decision was not acceptable as far as I’m concerned.”
Devine was also bewildered how his team contrived to lose the game after dominating the first half.
He went on: “I’m flabbergasted. We dominated for long periods, kept the ball well but found ourselves losing the game. I can’t fault the players; their effort was fantastic; our creativity was really good.
“For all our domination, we didn’t work their goalkeeper hard enough. For me, it must be about drive and determination and putting teams to bed.
“In saying that, to miss three successive penalty kicks at home in three weeks is unacceptable. We practice them every day in training, there is no excuse for missing from the spot.
“I’m being brutally honest, Larne didn’t deserve to win the game at all. But we didn’t do enough to win it either.”
Lynch’s men forged into the lead on 21 minutes in what was their first meaningful attack. Paul O’Neill and Ryan carved open the Glens defence and, when Jordan McEneff charged into the box, he was hauled down by Fuad Sule.
Ryan confidently stepped up to send Daniel Gyollai the wrong way from the spot.
Glentoran really should have been level seven minutes from the interval. Mark Randall’s horrible back pass fell woefully short, leaving goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson with little option but to clip the heels of Jay Donnelly.
Thorndike, however, blasted the penalty high and wide. In fact, it almost finished on the runway of the nearby George Best City Airport.
Larne secured the win 21 minutes from time. Sean Graham’s corner kick was helped on by substitute Joe Thomson and fell invitingly for Bolger to poke home from practically on the line.
Larne chief Tiernan Lynch admitted his boys had to grind out the victory.
“I’m delighted with the win; it was a professional performance,” he said.
“There have been questions asked of this team over the past few weeks, which I felt were unjustified because our performances were actually quite good.
“Anything that could have gone wrong, was going wrong for us…we were being punished for our own mistakes.
“We needed to get back to an Irish League performance and that’s what we did. It was more of a gritty performance, we had to dig in.
“You don’t get much from Decky Devine’s teams without rolling up your sleeves and grinding out a result.”
GLENTORAN: Gyollai 6, Hvid 7, McClean 7, Sule 6, Connolly 6, Palmer 7, Donnelly 6 (Aouachria 83), Fisher 6, Amos 7, Singleton 6, Thorndike 6 (Jenkins 60).
Unused subs: Mills, Lyons-Foster, Lindsay, Wightman, Douglas.
LARNE: Ferguson 7, Ives 7, Randall 6 (Thomson 57), O’Neill 6 (Lusty 78), Graham 6, McEneff 6 (Sloan 57), Seary 6, Bolger 8, Gallagher 7, Ryan 7, Wallace 6.
Unused subs: Beasant, McKendry, Magee, Cowan.
REFEREE: Evan Boyce 4.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Cian Bolger was a rock in the heart of the Larne defence. His goal also ensured his team of three points.
MOVE OF THE MATCH
Finley Thorndike’s cross was met by Paddy McClean but his header heralded a fantastic reaction save from Rohan Ferguson.
REFEREE WATCH
Busy afternoon for Evan Boyce. Eight yellow cards but there are big question marks over Singleton’s red