Hill slotted home the winning penalty to give the Glens a 4-3 victory after Linfield's Peter Thompson and Timmy Adamson as well as team-mate Gary Hamilton had failed to convert theirs.

The lottery that is penalties - loved by some, loathed by others - was required after a disappointing 120 minutes during which neither side really looked like breaking the deadlock.

Indeed, the first real effort of note didn't arrive until just after the half-hour when Linfield frontman Peter Thompson forced Glens keeper Elliott Morris into a full length save while Paul Leeman was on hand to clear away the loose ball as Thomas Stewart closed in for the kill.

Morris was called into action again moments from the interval to deny a close range Glenn Ferguson while his opposite number Alan Mannus did well to stop a point blank effort from Hamilton.

The second half exploded into life after just three minutes when the Glens were awarded a penalty following a goalmouth scramble during which referee Mark Courtney spotted a handball ...... but from the resultant spot-kick Kyle Neill was thwarted by Mannus who correctly dived to his right.

Not long after Linfield almost opened the scoring themselves when Thompson found Jamie Mulgrew who in turn almost beat Morris with a chip while at the other end Darren Lockhart fired into the side netting with only Mannus to beat.

Extra-time came and went with little to report - and then came the penalties.

Somewhat bizarrely, though, the first three efforts were all missed - Thompson (Linfield), Hamilton (Glentoran) and Timmy Adamson (Linfield) before Colin Nixon finally managed to register.