Glentoran's Warren Feeney banks Irish Cup victory from 'no-win situation' at home to Annagh United

The east Belfast side booked their ticket to the next phase with a hard-earned win over Annagh United at the BetMcLean Oval on Saturday.

It was a game that will not live long in the memory and one that appeared destined for extra-time – or a possible penalty shoot-out – until Junior Uzokwe produced a little bit of magic to win it in the last minute.

Former Northern Ireland international Feeney admitted he blew a sigh of relief at the finish.

“Everyone wants an upset in the cup, so you’ve just got to make sure by hook or by crook you are in the next round,” he said. “Yes, we scored late on, but it’s a 90-minute game of football.

“Whether you score in the first minute or the last minute, it doesn’t matter. We could have been better, but at the end of the day we achieved our aim...being in the sixth-round draw.

“It was a no-win situation, it was a banana skin tie for us, Annagh had nothing to lose. I thought they were super, they made really difficult for us.

“They had a good shape about them and were difficult to break down. In saying that, I didn’t think we moved the ball quickly enough, we were sluggish at times. Credit to the boys, they kept going right to the end and we showed that little bit of quality right at the end to get us the win.

“I decided to reshuffle the side a little bit; giving some players a bit of game time. We had Seanan Clucas and Jay Donnelly back from injury -- they are like two new signings.”

On his team’s sixth-round opponents, he added: “It will be a tough game, but it’s one I’m happy with. In football you’ve always got to do your homework. We respect every team we play.

“We done our homework on Annagh, so we knew what to expect. There are no easy games in football.

“We’ll put the cup on the back-burner for the time being because we have a number of big games looking, the first of those against Coleraine next week.

“We also have the Co Antrim Shield final against Larne.

"I’ve said before, this is one of the biggest football clubs in the country, but there hasn’t been enough silverware for me...two trophies in eight years isn’t good enough.

“There are expectations and demands, we’ve got to bring silverware – we must start winning cups.”

Annagh United boss Ciaran McGurgan admitted the last-minute goal was a blow.

He stated: “To go toe-to-toe with Glentoran, one of the biggest clubs in the country, was a great achievement, the boys should be proud.

“I actually think we had more chances than them in the first half. But I can’t be too critical, over the 90 minutes the lads put in a good shift.

“They (Glentoran) made changes at half-time, so we knew they meant business in the second half. It still took them until the 90th minute to win it.

“The difference was full-time footballers against part-timers. Yes, they hemmed us in at times, but it took a bit of quality (from Junior) at the end to win it for them.

“It was a cruel way to lose in the end, the boys were gutted in the dressing room, but I told them they can be very proud of themselves.”

GLENTORAN: McCarey, Kane (Sule, 46), McCullough, Burns, McCartan (Donnelly, 66), Clucas (Walsh, 66), Fisher (O’Connor, 46), McClean, Russell, Wightman, Junior.

Subs (not used): Webber, Kelly, Feeney.

ANNAGH UNITED: Craughwell, Kerr, Calvert, Finnegan, Evans, Taylor (Henderson, 66), McDonald (Convie, 66), Young, Upton, McCullough, Teggart (Stewart, 86).

Subs (not used): Little, Carville, Holmes, Nesbitt.

Referee: Ben McMaster.