Glentoran’s Gyollai Expresses Delight Over Unintentional Equalizer in Victory

Daniel Gyollai, the goalkeeper for Glentoran, acknowledged that the equalizing goal he scored during his team’s victory over Cliftonville was a “freak goal”. The Hungarian player scored just before half-time, converting a free-kick taken from within his own penalty area that subsequently bounced over Cliftonville’s goalkeeper, David Odumosu. Despite admitting the goal was unintentional, Gyollai expressed satisfaction in his contribution to the team’s comeback win. He informed BBC Sport NI, “It was a freak goal and that is the first time I have scored in my career so it will be a memorable one and it was really important.” Gyollai further stated, “It was a crazy game, a game of two halves. The first half was really tough, and we got caught sleeping on the free-kick which they scored from and I was really angry with the boys.” He concluded, “Second half we controlled the game, limited them to few chances and deserved the three points.” Declan Devine, the manager for Glentoran, commended his team’s resilience for recovering to win the match after initially trailing due to Joe Gormley’s opening goal, with Gyollai and subsequently Danny Amos scoring. He remarked, “It was a scrapy and ugly game, I was really disappointed at half-time with the goal we gave away and we didn’t play anywhere near our levels.” Devine added, “Our goalkeeper gets us out of jail and brings us level, but second half we were more competitive and more aggressive and credit to the players, to come from a goal behind shows the team spirit in the group.” Devine specifically lauded goalkeeper Gyollai, noting that his goal bore a resemblance to a similar strike by former Glentoran goalkeeper Elliot Morris against Institute in 2019. Devine further commented, “[Gyollai scoring] is not what you expect coming to the game and the big man has been simply outstanding since coming in.” He concluded, “Within two days of him coming in Elliot Morris showed him the goal he scored against Institute at the Brandywell a few years ago which I was at, and Dan has been able to do it himself, so I’m delighted for him.”