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This is the story of how the Glens
reached the Quarter finals of the European Cup Winners
Cup.
In the first round the Glens had been drawn against
Chimia Ramnicu Vilcea who were top of division two in
Romania in mid-september.
The Glens had to endure an arduous trip and despite
this Glentoran were successful in gaining a 2-2 away
draw.
In the second leg at the Oval Chimin's tactics were
rough and as a result they had Donose sent off in the
38th minute. A 2-0 win meant that Glentoran were the
first Ulster team to qualify for the second
round.
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In the next round the Glens were drawn
against Brann Bergen of Norway.
Heavy rain had turned the Norweigans pitch into a lake
and to the surprise of all involved the referee declared
the game should proceed. In the extremely difficult conditions
Brann took the lead on 11mins the Glens battled and battled
but received a sickening blow as Rab McCreery broke his
leg despite this Billy Walker equalised seven mins later
with a precious away goal.
The return leg on Nov 7th had to have an afternoon kick
off as the floodlights did not make the required standards.
The 5,200 there seen Weatherup and Feeney stat in a 3-1
win and a 4-2 aggregate victory.
Glentoran were noe the ONLY BRITISH representative
left in the competition as Rangers, Cardiff and Sunderland
had all been knocked out
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The Quarter Final Draw had landed
one of Europe's finest teams in the shape of Borussia
Moenchengladbach. Borussia had finished runners up to
Liverpool in the 1973 Uefa Cup and included half the West
German squad who would go onto win the World Cup that
summer. They included names such as Bertie Vogts, Rainher
Bonhoff, Ule Stielike, Jupp Heynkes and Dane Henning Jensen.
The first leg was switched to the Oval and a 12,000
crowd seen a Glentoran team containing 5 teenagers go
down 2-0 to goals from Heynckes and Koppel. Goalkeeper
Trevor McCullogh made some amazing saves but it was
all too comfortable for Borussia.
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The tragic death of Roy Stewart just
hours after the final whistle left the Oval and local
football devastated. Stewart's consistency had been rewarded
by the 1972/3 Glentoran Player of The Year and his passing
left a huge void at the Oval.
A the second leg in Germany as a mark of respect play
was halted and a minutes silence held in Roy Stewart's
memory. The game itself turned into a damage limitation
exercise and the Germans ran out 5-0 winners.
So Glentoran had reached the last 8 of the European
Cup Winners Cup and had produced another famous chapter
in the history of Glentoran F.C.
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