Danske Bank Premiership: Glentoran v Warrenpoint Town (today, The Oval, 3pm)
WARRENPOINT Town manager Matthew Tipton believes that the team’s dependence on Darren Murray for goals could be set to diminish after some of his fellow strikers got off the mark midweek.
The Milltown side’s four league goals prior to today’s trip to Glentoran have all come from Murray, but suspension meant that he had to sit out Tuesday’s 4-1 League Cup win over Lurgan Celtic.
It’s likely that Tipton would have rested Murray anyway, but his absence allowed fellow attacker Stephen Murray to find the net twice while Darius Roohl was also on target. Defender Danny Wallace was their other goalscorer on the night.
“Darren has been superb and I was on record back in January, when we brought him in, saying that he’s one of the league’s top strikers,” Tipton said.
“He’s had his issues and he’s had his injuries and we wouldn’t have got him without those issues. We were delighted to bring him in and he has been first class.
“People said to me last week that it was typical Darren (getting sent off) but it was a harsh sending off.
“Yes he appealed too much for the penalty but that was our fourth penalty appeal in 10 minutes and three of those, I felt, were stonewall penalties.
“Frustration has got the better of him but I don’t mind if Darren gets frustrated because that’s showing his passion for the game.
“Stephen Murray needs game-time because he has been working away a lot over the summer months.
“We only really get him on a matchday so he’s not quite up to speed.
“We needed to get him minutes and he got two goals, which is a big positive going into the Glentoran game.
“Stephen is a brilliant player and was obviously superb for us last year. I’m sure he’s chomping at the bit to get into the team.”
Warrenpoint have picked up just one win in their four games to date, but the fact that they lost to Coleraine and Glenavon by just a single goal suggests to Tipton that they are certainly not out of their depth.
“We came into the season fully knowing that in the first four games we were playing three of last year’s top six,” he continued.
“Coleraine and Crusaders were in the top three and Glenavon, who obviously missed out in the Europa League play-off game last year.
“Our season isn’t going to be defined playing Crusaders, Coleraine, Glenavon, those guys will be challenging for league titles.
“Last week against Coleraine was more of the sort of performance that we would expect.
“Obviously I might be biased, but I felt that we were the better team on the evening.
“We lost Darren but continued to create chances and I was more positive after that than I was when we beat Ards.
“Now it’s Glentoran away. We’ll be going there in a more positive manner compared to the previous games.”
With Linfield facing Spartans in the IRN-Bru Challenge Cup in Edinburgh today, Coleraine and Glenavon will both have a chance to move to the top of the table when they meet at The Showgrounds.
The Bannsiders currently trail Linfield on goal difference while Gary Hamilton’s side are two points behind the early pace-setters.
Avoid defeat in Ballymena and Cliftonville will leap-frog Carrick Rangers into sixth in the table as they aim to bounce back from last week’s derby loss to Crusaders.
Barry Gray’s men have failed to win in their last three league games but they will be boosted by the return of Rory Donnelly, who rejoined the club on Tuesday night.
Today’s final game will see Dungannon Swifts hosting Ballinamallard United.
