Sean Murray is determined to reward Glentoran supporters by returning the Gibson Cup to The Oval trophy cabinet for the first time in 13 years this season.
The attacking midfielder was a dynamic presence in Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Warrenpoint Town as the Glens capitalised on Linfield’s loss at Coleraine to climb to the summit of the Premiership.
The victory was secured by Robbie McDaid’s first half header but Murray could be forgiven for wondering how his name wasn’t added to the scoresheet as he was twice thwarted by Town’s 17-year-old keeper Stephen McMullan.
Not that the former Watford star is concerned with personal kudos, as he insists his sole focus is on bringing the glory days back to east Belfast.
“Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t,” he said with a smile.
“Fair play to their keeper, he’s a young lad and he had a really good game.
“Coming in at half-time we should have been a few more goals ahead but fortunately we got the job done.
“We’ve a week until our next match and it’s a well-needed rest for some us, especially me.”
It was a grind at times for Mick McDermott’s men against the league’s bottom side but Murray expects to get it tight for the rest of the season now.
As his manager wryly noted: “Mountain tops are small and the air is thin.”
Murray, who joined the Glens from Dundalk this month, added: “When you’re sitting at the top of the league everyone is going to pick up their game against you, so we need to deal with that.
“It’s going to get a whole lot harder coming towards the end of the season but I’m pretty sure we’ll be prepared for that, we’ve got a big squad and players who can come in and do a job so we just need to kick on now.”
It’s been a hectic start to life in the Irish league for the 28-year-old since his arrival from Dundalk in December but he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It’s been perfect for me, I haven’t had to wait around.
“I’ve been getting my fitness through the matches. I had a month off then a week’s training and then straight into football so it’s been all go and I’ve enjoyed it.
“The league is brilliant, the games at Cliftonville and Crusaders stick out for me, the amount of travelling fans we had was brilliant, the atmosphere was great.
“Going 1-0 down in both games and then to come back and win, I think having that sort of crowd there was the reason we were able to do that.
“Getting to the top of the league is brilliant for the fans because they’ve followed us around all the stadiums and been very loud, home and away.”
