Portadown manager Niall Currie described the awarding of Cliftonville's second goal in Wednesday night's Irish Premiership game as a "sickener", adding he was convinced it didn't cross the line.

After Ports goalkeeper Alex Moore dropped and quickly regathered Rory Hale's free-kick, linesman Gavin Hegarty raised his flag and referee Declan Hassan awarded the goal with just three minutes remaining.

It sealed a 2-0 win for the visitors at Shamrock Park after Joe Sheridan's early opener and moved the Reds nine points clear of eighth-placed Portadown in the race for a top-six finish.

"We've seen it and I don't know how they [the officials] are going to come back from this one," said Currie.

"You never know what you're going to hear. There's going to be something coming out. His feet are behind the line. The ball is clearly where the crossbar is when he catches it.

"I must certainly know 150% the ball doesn't bounce behind the line. The ball bounces just on the white line or ahead of the white line, so I don't know what to say really. I'm speechless."

Read more of Currie's post-match reflections here, external.

Read the match report and watch the highlights here, external.

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Larne boss Gary Haveron praised the "composure" shown by goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson and the players who stepped up in the penalty shootout as his side saw off Glentoran in the Irish Cup quarter-final tie at the Oval.

Ferguson saved all three of Glentoran's penalties after the game had finished 1-1 after extra time, while Tomas Cosgrove, Sean Graham and Chris Gallagher converted their spot kicks to send Larne through to the semi-finals.

It was the perfect way for Haveron to celebrate his 45th birthday, with Ferguson providing him the perfect gift as Larne continue their hunt for a first Irish Cup.

"Rohan Ferguson came up to me and said 'Happy birthday gaffer' so it was a brilliant way to finish the day. It is what I wanted for my birthday and it couldn't have gone any better," he told BBC Sport NI.

"Delighted to get through to the semi-final, you know how difficult it is going to be coming to the Oval and there is not going to be much in the game, fine margins, so delighted to come out the right side.

"The guys showed unbelievable composure in the penalty shootout, we did it against Auda and Pristina [in Europe] and we have the confidence. In Ro Ferguson we have the best goalkeeper in the league and to save three of their penalties was unbelievable."

Read more of Haveron's post-match comments here, external.

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Glentoran manager Declan Devine said he was left to rue a "sore" defeat against Larne in the Irish Cup on penalties, which he believed was down to "big decisions" from the referee that went against his side.

The Glens took the lead in the quarter-final through Cammy Palmer before Andy Ryan levelled in the second half for Larne.

MJ Kamson Kamara was then sent off just before the end of normal time after picking up a second yellow card which Devine said had a "huge bearing" on the outcome of the game as Rohan Ferguson saved all three of the Glens' penalties.

"It's a painful one, fine margins in the game, big calls and from where I was, I thought we had a good case for a penalty from a handball and I don't think the two yellow card were yellow cards," he told BBC Sport NI.

"On the back of a third game in six days, to go down to 10 men, I thought the players were magnificent, running on empty with a real high level of commitment, it's really sore to take and there are big decisions that have gone against us and as a result we have gone to penalties and our penalties were poor, we know that, but they were taken with a lot of fatigue.

"I don't think we got what we deserved. We come away talking about big decisions that have gone against us and I'm sick of it."

Read more of Devine's post-match comments here, external.

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Watch highlights as Larne make further progress towards a first-ever Irish Cup success by seeing off Glentoran in a heavyweight tussle at the Oval.

Cameron Palmer gave the Glens the lead at the end of the first half, but Andy Ryan levelled in the second half.

Glentoran had defender MJ Kamson-Kamara sent-off and then neither team could find a winning goal in extra-time.

Larne goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson was the hero for his side as he saved three penalties in a 3-0 shootout success for the Invermen.

One game in the Irish Premiership this afternoon as Ballymena United host Portadown.

The remaining three Irish Cup quarter final fixtures all take place this afternoon.

Image source, BBC Sport

Good afternoon and welcome to our coverage of this afternoon's action in the Irish Cup and Irish Premiership.

The Irish Cup has reached the quarter-final stage and the last-eight ties kicked off in dramatic fashion at the Oval on Friday night as Larne emerged victorious over Glentoran after a penalty shootout in an incident-packed match.

With the Invermen having booked their place in the semi-final draw, the other three matches are up for decision today and they are all Premiership v Championship encounters.

Holders Dungannon Swifts continue the defence of the trophy as they host H&W Welders at Stangmore Park, while at Ballycastle Road, Limavady United, conquerors of Linfield in the last round, face Coleraine.

Cliftonville, finalists in each of the past two seasons, are away to Loughgall at Lakeview Park.

Meanwhile in the Irish Premiership, there's a key game in the bottom half of the table as Ballymena United entertain Portadown in a rearranged fixture.

We'll bring you all the drama as the action unfolds from all four games with live audio coverage courtesy of Sportsound, in-play clips of the goals and any other key moments, and text commentary from all four grounds.

Stay with us, we have you covered!

Image source, Pacemaker Press