No recovery after 'shambles' goal - Devine

Glentoran manager Declan Devine was left disappointed with his side's opening day defeat to Crusaders, admitting his side failed to recover after conceding a "shambles" of a goal.

A defensive mix-up allowed Kieran Offord to score a debut goal for the Crues midway through the first half, which was enough to seal a 1-0 victory.

"The goal just sums up the performance really," Devine told BBC Sport NI.

"It was a bit of a shambles in terms of the goal we gave away and I don’t think we really recovered from that.

"We had three strikers and two wingers and we didn’t test their goalkeeper enough and that is obviously a disappointing factor."

Devine took over on an interim basis as Glentoran manager in March following the departure of Warren Feeney and assumed the permanent role in April.

"We didn’t get going, we weren’t good enough with the ball and the goal we gave away, we let it affect us for a period of the game," Devine added.

"We’ve said this all along – there are going to be ups and downs. Tonight has been a down but it’s the first game of the season. We’ll take our lessons, we’ll come away and reassess it and we’ll go from there."