Plenty of positives from weekend double header

On Friday night Kenny Shiels brought his high flying Candystripes to Mourneview Park and they ran out 2-0 winners.

With two games over two days, Glenavon manager Gary Hamilton used a blend of youth and experience over both games.

It was Hamilton who had the best chance of the opening half when he latched onto a poor back pass but the keeper got a touch to deflect his shot away for a corner.

Derry took the lead with an Aaron Barry header and early in the second half Nathan Boyle made it 2-0.

Despite the defeat, manager Hamilton was delighted with the workout against a team on top of their form in the SSE Airtricity Premier League.

The team on Saturday had a lot more experience in it for the visit of Welsh side Llandudno.

Again, this was an excellent game and a real test for the Lurgan Blues who had Joel Cooper back training with the Northern Ireland team in France.

Cooper was sharp and his direct running caused problems for the visitors and he was unlucky not to put Glenavon ahead on two occasions in the first half. Kevin Braniff was controlling the midfield while goalkeeper Jonny Tuffey produced two stunning saves to deny the visitors from leaving Lurgan with a win.

Conal Delaney, Curtis Savage and Bobby Burns were also excellent in the scoreless encounter.