Jay Donnelly is in the goal scoring form of his life this season. Football headlines and highlights come easy to him these days.
The Glentoran striker also does a decent line in understatement.
After bagging his 22nd and 23rd goals of a stunning campaign so far in Monday night's 2-1 win at Cliftonville, the 26-year-old was asked for his previous highest goals tally for a season.
“I think it was 24 or 25 when I was a Cliftonville player a few years back,” he replied. “The way things are going I could beat it this season.
"I don't want to scud it, but I have a chance.”
With 16 games still to play in a fascinating league title race and a potential Irish Cup run also in the mix, he certainly does.
Donnelly’s return of 23 goals in 26 outings this season and 40 in only 65 appearances since joining the Glens in September 2020 is remarkable.
Monday night’s double against the Reds live on Sky Sports also made it 10 in his last eight league games.
More crucially, it helped propel the Glens up to second in the table, just three points off leaders and Big Two rivals Linfield heading into the business end of the campaign.
“I can’t complain at the minute,” he said. “I’m a striker and that’s my job at the end of the day.
"It’s all about practice, practice, practice, but as a striker I’m always confident in front of goal.
“I’ve been keeping my head down, I have my own personal targets and slowly but surely I’m reaching them.
“We have so much quality throughout the team, particularly in wide areas, so we will always create chances. We have also shown we can dig in for results.
“The most important thing for me is helping the team win games and our focus now turns to Crusaders on Friday night.
“There is still a long way to go in the league and we’re not even thinking about tables or anything like that. It’s only ever about the next test.”
Jamie McDonagh fired Cliftonville into an early lead before the Glens hit back with Donnelly’s brace in the 45th and 50th minutes.
“The boys put in a big shift to come back from 1-0 down,” he said. “We made it 1-1 at a good time just before half-time and it helped us regroup.
“We then came out in the second half, put them under pressure and thankfully I managed to nod in the second goal and help us get the three points.”
On his equaliser, a glancing near post volley that crashed in off the far post, Donnelly said: “I got the slightest touch. That’s all I’ll say. Hopefully Sky Sports don’t prove me wrong!
“The second one, I just got away from my marker and managed to score. It was a big win.”
Next up for the Glens is Friday night's trip to Seaview, while Cliftonville will look to bounce back when they face Larne at Inver Park, also on Friday night.
