As opposed to a game of two halves, this one was a game of two gilt-edged chances; one for each side. The telling difference was that Institute’s ended up in the net and Glenavon’s crashed off the bar.

The game opened slowly on a wet pitch, the first chance coming after nine minutes with Phillip Lowry rising to head wide for Institute.

Five minutes later, Glenavon got their first shot at goal, through Trevor Molloy when Paul Carvill’s cross found the Dubliner, who turned and shot just past the post.

Glenavon’s best chance of the game fell to star striker Tony Grant who did everything but find the net. After impressively holding off his marker, Grant turned on the six-yard line and rifled a hard shot off the bar as Alan Ryan looked on helplessly.

The game then turned into one of few chances with referee, Hugh Carville spending most of the match with his whistle pressed to his over-worked lips.

The disappointing nature of the game continued in the early stages of the second half with Eamon Murray and Paul Carvill both hitting half-chances over the crossbar.

Then, on 58 minutes, Institute sprung into life with Neil Harkin feeding the ball through to Ruairi Boyle who found himself through on the ‘keeper. Fortunately for Glenavon, Robert Robinson was quick to lunge at the feet of the striker, smothering the ball.

‘Stute then began to play with a bit of swagger, putting in some impressive passing moves and Neil Harkin soon found himself in acres of space in the box. He then proceeded to make little mistake in slotting the ball comfortably past the helpless Robinson to give his side an unsurprising 1-0 lead.

It was evident that Glenavon needed a spark to get things going, and the management team of Stevie McBride and Alan Fraser soon acted, bringing on the impressive Davey Larmour for Brian Mallon.

As Glenavon struggled to get anywhere near the Institute goal, a free-kick on 73 minutes gave them an opportunity to get a long overdue attempt at finding the net.

A cunningly surprising set-play saw Willo McDonagh lining up a shot, only for Trevor Molloy to peel away from in front of the ball to have a go at goal. Unfortunately for him, his snap-shot was deflected by one of the many Institute defenders into the arms of Alan Ryan in the ‘Stute goal.

Five minutes later, an attractive move by the home side led to Trevor Molloy’s looping cross finding Hugh Dickson unmarked at the back post. However, the central defenders attempt at goal appeared to be more of a clearance than a shot, looping away to the edge of the area.

As Glenavon continued to attempt to find their way through the Institute defender, they were given an insight into what Cliftonville’s players must have felt like last Saturday.