Glentoran kept up their Setanta Sports Cup challenge with a 3-2 win over fellow Carling Premiership side Coleraine in a rip-roaring clash at the Oval.
Glentoran 3 - 2 Coleraine
Darren Boyce had put the Bannsiders in front before Andy Waterworth levelled and the Glens went on to turn the screw in the second half with goals from Daryl Fordyce and Andy Hall.
Boyce pulled another back but the Glens were never really in any danger of letting their lead slip.
The Glens had started brightly but fell a goal behind, yet again from a mistake, after six minutes.
Kyle Neill's poor free-kick was given straight to the opposition and eventually found the speedy Stephen Dooley wide on the right.
He showed unbelievable pace and with the home defence floundering, crossed for Boyce to chest the ball in from a couple of yards out.
The Glens just carried on the way they had been playing and although the pace of the Coleraine attack was causing some problems, it was Alan McDonald's side who were forcing the play.
Neill hit a speculative effort from 25 yards which Davy O'Hare could only parry and on the follow up Waterworth crossed for Fordyce whose header was easily saved by the keeper.
Then Neill crossed from the left hand side and again Fordyce was on the end of it, though his toe poke at goal, again lacked power or precision.
There only looked like one team was going to score and true enough, after a period of sustained pressure the Glens equalised on 29 minutes.
Teenage winger Andrew Hall fired in a great cross from the right and Fordyce dummied allowing Waterworth to tap in from close range.
Eunan O'Kane almost had Coleraine back in front with a weel struck free-kick around the wall but into the side-netting and then just before the break the same player went on a great solo run, helped out by some poor tackling but eventually his shot went harmlessly wide.
In the second half, it was more of the same with Glentoran applying the pressure and the Bannsiders happy to hit them on the counter attack.
Neill volleyed over from an Andy Hall cross on 47 minutes when he should have at least forced O'Hare into a save.
Then on 51 minutes Coleraine had the ball in the net only to see it ruled out.
Kyle McVey's free-kick was knocked down by Dooley and Mark Mukendi slammed home but the assistant referee ruled the big defender to be in an offside position.
However the Glens finally went in front on 59 minutes when McVey was pickpocketed by Richard Clarke 25 yards from goal and the former Newry City midfielder rolled the ball to Fordyce to score.
Hall then curled home his first goal in a Glentoran shirt - and what a goal, his effort from 22 yards out flying over O'Hare and into the top corner.
It looked to be plain sailing for the Glens but Boyce scored again, from Rory Patterson's cross to keep them in the game however that was as close as they got to a point and the east Belfast men are still well in the hunt to qualify for the next round.
Next up for them is Bohemians in Dublin in February.
GLENTORAN: Morris, McGovern, Nixon, Ward (Black 78), Hill, Hall (Gardiner 88), McCabe, Clarke, Neill (Gillespie 60), Fordyce, Waterworth. Subs: Gibbons, Halliday, Hamilton, Callacher.
COLERAINE: O'Hare, Beverland, McVey, Mukendi, Watt, Dooley (Tolan 70), O'Kane, Harkin (Carson 67), Hegarty (Tommons 67), Boyce, Patterson. Subs: McCormack, Neil, McCallion, Canning.
REFEREE: Raymond Crangle (Belfast)
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