Dungannon Swifts v Glentoran
Today Player Watch is back out on Dungannon Swifts’ left wing to shine the light on ex Ballymena United man Ally Teggart. His first touch apart from taking a corner wasn’t his best as he was unable to control a ball in the air which went out for a throw. Stangmore Park would not be one of the wider pitches in the Irish League and with Glentoran pushing up high looking for offside and his own team not moving the ball fast enough, he was having difficulty finding room to get into the game.
His side, all the same, were having most of the possession and what turned out to be one of the game’s best chances was to fall to him in the twelfth minute. As a cross came over Glentoran’s Nathan Kerr found himself with two to mark and the ball fell to Teggart as he arrived in the six-yard box. He caught the ball cleanly enough in the air on his left foot but unfortunately drove it straight at the goalkeeper. A costly miss!
For much of the first half he linked well with his left back O’Rourke, but he was unable at any point to get past Kerr to get a cross in. His simple passing was sharp and accurate and his decision making was invariably correct with regard to when to travel and when to pass. He had to think sometimes in other ways and ran decoy a few times to help O’Rourke find space. He needs to perhaps sharpen his movement sometimes as now and then he became a positionally ‘dead ‘ player due to the touchline and opposition marking. As mentioned, with geographical space at a minimum he needs to be able to provide options at all times.
Defensively he was well up to the mark and was always quickly in front of Kerr anytime he set up to advance and was an effective block for his team in this regard. Life became a little harder for him when Knowles on Glentoran’s right midfield went off and Corey McMullan took his place who has much more physicality about him. He changed tack a little when he decided to cut infield and sent a short through ball to Harpur who earned a free kick as the position was such that he needed fouled.
He has a good left foot and put a series of excellent corners in. On one of these clearances, he fed a colleague on the edge of the box who got his shot away. Shortly afterwards he had the opportunity for a shot just outside the box but he was unable to keep it under the bar. In the second half Glentoran played with more urgency and a higher tempo and he found it harder to get out of his own half. On various occasions, he showed himself to be very comfortable holding the ball in vulnerable areas and capable of playing himself and colleagues out of danger due to a cool head and tidy feet.
Further up the pitch he cut in on his right and tried a shot which just flew over the far post which gave the opposition something to think about. At this point in the game he was proving very useful to his team by giving them width and providing offensive and defensive options. A well-executed ground pass from his penalty box to Ryan Mayse not only relieved pressure for his team but quickly put his team on the front foot.
He was now making a habit of arriving late through the back door into the Glentoran penalty area and was unlucky not to get a clean shot away on a crossfield ball. His last significant moment was moving fast across the edge of his own penalty area to dispossess Dan Kelly who had got into a dangerous position. He was substituted on the 84th minute after a very useful shift for Dungannon.