Gary Hamilton got the ball rolling on 13 minutes when he collected the ball from Daryl Fordyce on the left side of the area to beat the 'keeper from close range.

And Fordyce was involved again a minute later when he was brought down by Adam McMinn inside the box to win a penalty which skipper Colin Nixon duly converted.

But the Swifts hit back on the half-hour through Timmy Adamson when he beat Elliott Morris with a header in off the far post after collecting a Darragh Peden throw-in.

Hamilton might have restored Glentoran's two-goal advantage five minutes later only to send a shot just past the far upright.

The Swifts almost levelled through Michael Hegarty early on the second half with a low drive followed by a Mark McAllister downward header but Morris was equal to the challenge.

Later in the half Morris was forced into a block on the line when a Jason Hill attempted clearance was knocked forward but right at the end Andrew Waterworth came within a whisker of making it 3-1 to the visitors when he raced through the middle only to be thwarted by a superb Dwayne Nelson stop.