Shels hero Byrne warns Glentoran to prepare for qualifying exit

Ian Parkes

Byrne and Crowe were thorns in Glentoran's side in the all-Ireland first qualifying round showdown at The Oval as the Dubliners won 2-1 in Belfast, with Byrne scoring a brace.

A late rally saw Glentoran pull one back through Sean Ward, and with 2,000 fans expected to travel to Tolka Park for next Wednesday's return, the tie is seemingly far from over.

But Byrne, the eircom League's leading scorer for the last two seasons, is confident he and Crowe will again tear through the Glentoran team to clinch a date with Steaua Bucharest.

"The two of us are starting to come together, and I think you will see the best of us in the coming games," insisted Byrne, first cousin to Tottenham and Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane.

"We worked very hard, and we came off knackered. We covered every inch of the pitch, closing them down and they gave us the chances.

"Crowe gave me great support in setting me up for the first goal and then won the penalty for the second, but we had enough chances to have won 10 matches.

"It was still great to score the goals, although the most important thing is that we got the win.

"We knew this first game would be very tough, and luckily enough we got two away goals.

"At one point I was thinking it wasn't going to go for us, but we continued to create chances, and luckily enough we put them away.

"They did come back strongly in the end and pulled one back which I don't think they deserved but we got the win and we should feel confident now.

"We're in the driving seat, and although they will again make it difficult for us, we know they need to score two goals.

"When you are chasing a game you leave yourself vulnerable, so if we create the chances like we did in this game, then we will be all right."

Glentoran right-back Colin Nixon firmly believes his side can pull off another shock, as they did last season against Finnish side AC Allianssi in a UEFA Cup qualifier.

On that occasion, Glentoran drew the first leg 2-2 at home, and trailed 1-0 in the away tie until late on when Tom McAllion and Nixon scored to seal a remarkable win.

"People may think this tie is over, but that's not the way we see it," said Nixon.

"Last season no one gave us a chance against Allianssi, but we got those two goals and there is a belief in our camp that we can go and do it again."