With no first team players available, a young Whites team, nine under 18 in the squad of fourteen, took on a strong Glentoran team, that included Gary Smith, Tim McCann and BJ Mc Menamin, and they looked slightly overawed in the first half hour of this game.

The Glens were playing some good football, and Wilton, in the home goal was busy as they pressurised the back four of the Whites, without scoring. But in the eighteenth minute a McCann corner from the left was not properly cleared as Patton knocked the ball straight out to Mc Cann again, and he sent over a cross to the back post where Henderson was standing, unmarked, and he duly headed it just inside the far post, to put the Glens one up.

Undaunted the Whites began to play and with Cooling and Coates beginning to get to grips with the midfield, they created a good opening for Mercer on the left, but instead of pulling the ball back, he elected to shoot from a tight angle, and blasted it well over. Mercer’s pace was causing problems, and when he broke away with only a minute left in the half, he was brought down on the edge of the box as he was about to shoot. From the resulting free kick Cooling scored with a cracker around the wall and into the top corner, to level the scores at half time.

The second half saw both teams strive to score, but neither team had the fire power to finish off good moves, although Coates could have won it for the home team, in the closing minutes. A deep cross from the right was headed back towards the far corner, but a cracking save meant that the honours were shared.