And then there were two . . .

Today, Glentoran will move ever closer to choosing the man who will take up residence in the Oval office with the shortlist for the vacant managerial post now narrowed down to Eddie Patterson and Pat McGibbon.

The pair will meet with members of the board of directors this afternoon for an informal talk before the Glens hierarchy come together again to pick their man.

A decision is expected tomorrow, meaning that tonight's Setanta Sports Cup first, round second leg tie with Bray Wanderers (7.45pm), in which the east-Belfast men hold a 4-2 lead, will be Roy Coyle's final act in a caretaker role he has handled reasonably well.

His last league game on Saturday was classic Coyle — a gritty, if a little ugly, 1-0 victory over a Cliftonville side who turned in a performance so far removed from that of their last visit to the Oval — the County Antrim Shield final success — it could have been a completely different team.

Watching in the stands as the impressive ‘Jinky' Jim O'Hanlon — who provided the only flash of flair in an otherwise forgettable game — score the only goal was Patterson and he will at least have been impressed by the way in which the Glens dug in for a win, reflecting a trait that many thought wasn't in the make up of this team.

McGibbon was busy masterminding a 3-0 win for his Newry City side in the Coca-Cola Intermediate Cup against Ballynahinch United, but that's not to say that he didn't have eyes on the Oval.

It is believed that Darren Lockhart will come on board alongside McGibbon should the 38-year-old ex-Northern Ireland international get the job and the former Glens favourite was in attendance too.

While there is plenty of work to do to turn this bunch of Glentoran players into a team that can once again challenge Linfield for the big prizes, the past couple of weeks have at least shown that there is the nucleus of a good side there.

Becoming a major part of that nucleus is young O'Hanlon.

Throughout the season there have been brief glimpses of his talent, but one of the major criticisms that could be directed towards Scott Young during his tenure is that he didn't use the youngsters enough.

Yes, he was trying to protect them, but when when you have the available talent of O'Hanlon, Martin Murray, Kyle Cherry and a few others, they should be utilised more than Young saw fit to.

O'Hanlon was superb at Bray last week and again on Saturday he provided sparks of brilliance with his skill, quick feet and pace. His finish wasn't bad either as he fired into the top corner in the 35th minute after Jason Hill had taken advantage of an error by Reds defender Aaron Smyth

“He's still learning his trade,” said Coyle. “He's got tremendous ability and a good turn of pace. He will keep his feet firmly on the ground.

“He's got quality and you don't see that about in the Irish League too much. There's not too many wide wingers in the game now and, fortunately, we have two in himself and Stephen Carson.”

As for Cliftonville, boss Tommy Breslin — whose side take a 1-0 advantage into their Setanta showdown with St Patrick’s Athletic in Inchicore this evening — was almost resigned to the fact that title aspirations slipped away with the dropping of more points.

Earlier this season, the Reds went on a terrific 14-game winning run and while Breslin knows it will take something of that ilk to get back into the hunt at the top of the Carling Premiership he doesn’t expect it to happen.

“It's a big ask,” he said.”People say you went on a run earlier in the season, but that doesn't matter. These are games now that you have to win, it's a very different story going out and winning games as opposed to going out in must-win games.

“If that performance is anything to go by, we will be trying to consolidate third place. Unless we get our sharpness back, our ideas back, our hunger back then we are not a threat.”