Goal-den Gary not taking starting spot for granted

The midfielder’s injury time equaliser against Glentoran was his fourth goal of the season and while it might have lacked the quality of his thunderbolt against Cliftonville at Solitude, there was no doubtng the importance of his close-range finish.

In the confusion that followed the goalmouth scramble, the goal was initially awarded to team-mate David Cushley, leaving Thompson slightly bemused.

“Without doubt it was 100 per cent my goal,” Gary told Times Sport.

“The ball was bouncing around the box and Cush hit it on the volley and luckily enough it came to me and I knocked it in.

“It came across from my left and I flicked it with the outside of my boot and it went into my net.”

Thompson said his team-mates would have been left dejected if their stirring performance had brought no reward.

“We battled very hard – it was a tough game against a young, bright Glentoran side but we definitely deserved a point.

“It was a good performance on the back of another good disaply and result against Cliftonville during the week.

“It was a sore weekend the previous week. We had a great following down at Coleraine and we let them down so badly.

“But we’ve bounced back well and hopefully the two performances and results since have gone some way to making up for what happened against Coleraine.

“We have a lot of young players – I’m 22 and I’m probably one of the more experienced players in the side – but it’s how you react to adversity that’s important and thankfully we seem to have come back strongly.”

Thompson has proved a shrewd acquisition by manager Glenn Ferguson, who first noted the player’s potential as a teenager at Linfield and then worked as close quarters during Ferguson’s spell as assistant boss at Lisburn Distillery.

As well as his all-energy displays, Thompson has also proved himself to have the vital knack of coming up with goals from midfield.

“That’s my fourth and I’ve missed a couple of good chances as well.

“Glenn just keeps telling me to get into those positions – he doesn’t put any pressure on me and thankfully I’ve started to knock a few in.

“Getting forward and trying to score goals is a bit part of my game and thankfully I’ve managed to put a few away lately.

“I don’t think I’ll set any goal targets just yet – I’m still concentrating on making sure I play well enough to stay in the team and playing as many games as I can,” added Gary.