Glentoran 1 Benfica 1

European Champions Cup First Round 1st Leg

Wednesday 13th September 1967

Kick Off 7:30pm

Tonight when you are waiting for the 'Ulster' at the newsagents cast your mind back exactly 30 years to the night when an estimated 40,000 fans packed the Oval to see one of the greatest teams and one of the greatest players of all time take on Glentoran in the European Cup. It probably seemed a formality for the Eagles of Lisbon turning up at the Oval and booking comfortable passage into round two, after all this was the team which had already played in 4 European Cup finals in the 1960's. Nobody in the ground that night could possibly have anticipated what was about to unfold. Nine minutes into the game and Tommy Morrow is pulled down in the box by Jacinto. Player manager John Colrain takes the penalty and unbelievably the Glens are one up. If you could have picked a time to go a goal up against is Benfica team it would have been the 9 minute, not the 9th. We awaited the goal avalanche. With the Benfica side boasting over 150 international caps between such players as Torres,Coluna,Augusto and Eusebio it was only a matter of when the first goal would come and with how many would they be satisfied. 

Perhaps only one person thought it could be otherwise otherwise - John Colrain. The ex-Celtic and Ipswich player had led the team to 4 trophies in his first season and picked up invaluable experience on the US tour. He sent out a defensive formation to frustrate the Portuguese; Tommy Jackson man marking Eusebio, Creighton, McKeag and McCullough at the back and Billy Sinclair playing as sweeper.
After the Glens early strike Benfica did start to cause problems. Twice Eusebio hit the post, twice Torres had goals ruled out by a linesman flag, then in the 60th minute McCullough tangled in the box with Eusebio and French referee Roger Barde awarded a penalty. Graca took the the kick but Albert Finlay diving to his right, grabbed the ball by the post. With under half an hour left perhaps we could hold on for a win. The tension increased as the minutes ticked by and only five minutes remained when a high ball was flicked on by Torres to Augusto, he pushed it to Eusebio and the dream was over. Despite a couple of assaults by the home side the game finished level.