Irish League Football

Image source, Pacemaker

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."

Haveron was satisfied that his side managed to muster a response after a lacklustre first half as Andy Ryan cancelled out Cammy Palmer's opener before MJ Kamson Kamara was dismissed for two bookable offences for the hosts.

"First half we weren't at it, we didn't press them but the second half and the reaction I got was superb," he continued.

"I couldn't have asked for any more from them they kept pushing and pushing and rightfully got the goal and in extra time we looked like the team that would win it.

Penalties are not much of a lottery to me as we've got Ro and boys who have real composure, who have been there and done it."

Image source, Inpho

BBC Sport NI is to broadcast this season's BetMcLean Cup final between Linfield and Glentoran at Windsor Park live on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

The big Belfast rivals are meeting in the final of a knockout cup competition for the first time in 16 years.

The match will be played on Sunday, 15 March, with coverage beginning at 14:35 and the match kicking off at 15:00.

Presenter Stephen Watson will be joined in studio by David Jeffrey, Paul Leeman and Jim Magilton, who will provide expert analysis, with Thomas Kane joined on commentary by Colin Coates.

Nicola McCarthy will gather reaction pitchside at what is a hugely anticipated decider expected to be played in front of a huge crowd at the National Stadium.

Last week the Northern Ireland Football League [NIFL] confirmed the landmark decision that video assistant referees [VAR] technology would be used for the first time in the domestic professional game in Northern Ireland at the final.

Linfield will be targeting a 13th success in the competition, while the Glens aim to collect the silverware for the eighth time.

For the first time the winner of the competition will secure a place in the end-of-season European play-offs, leaving them just one game away from qualification for European competition.

Image source, Pacemaker

Carrick Rangers manager Stephen Baxter says goalkeeper Nathan Gartside should take "no blame" for the error which led to Glentoran's late winner at the Oval.

Gartside spilled Aaron McEneff's corner with MJ Kamson Kamara poking home the loose ball for the only goal of the game, but Baxter rushed to the defence of his goalkeeper who had earlier pulled off some huge saves.

Indeed, the Carrick boss was happy with how his side performed in east Belfast and while disappointed with the defeat, he could have no complaints with their endeavour.

"I'm exceptionally proud of the team," Baxter told BBC Sport NI.

"Glentoran have exceptional players to bring on from their bench to change football matches and did that tonight.

"We had matched them stride for stride defensively, shut down their passing lanes and were able to frustrate them in many ways.

"The blunder you will talk about with Nathan dropping the ball into the net is hugely frustrating for him, but he has made three brilliant saves. While he's hugely disappointed, there's no blame attached from me - that's the life of a goalkeeper."

Baxter paid further tribute to his players including Joe Moore who returned from Scotland after the funeral of his grandfather to play on Tuesday, while he also revealed defender Billy Joe Burns played through injury and after a number of days attending to his sick child.

"I'm extremely pleased with the efforts and have thanked the team for their performances over the last two months with a small squad," he added.

"Some have played when they shouldn't have so that says it all about the commitment."

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Glentoran manager Declan Devine says it was a "huge three points" for his side after defeating Carrick Rangers 1-0 at the Oval.

MJ Kamson-Kamara netted seven minutes from time to clinch victory for the dominant hosts.

The win moves the east Belfast side up to second in the Premiership standings and five points behind leaders Larne.

"It's a massive win, because we would have been really frustrated if it ended 0-0 or even worse," said Devine.

"We were relentless in our pursuit of the goal, which also left us a bit open on the counter-attack.

"The pleasing thing for me was that we never got frustrated, we kept going right to the end.

"I said to the lads at half-time that it might go to the last 10-15 minutes and I was right - it's getting that first goal, which is really difficult against a low block.

"We 100% deserved the victory and that's testimony to the players. I's a huge three points."

Image source, Inpho

Kevin Crossan has been named the new chairman of Cliftonville FC.

Crossan's appointment comes after former chairman Keiran Harding stood down last month alongside directors David Begley and Adrian Keenan.

Their departure came after the Toronto Investment Group (TIG) withdrew their investment proposal in the Irish Premiership club.

In a statement on Monday, external, the north Belfast club confirmed that Crossan was nominated unopposed at their Extraordinary General Meeting.

Club members also elected Anthony Donnelly to the position of Stadium Director.

Previous chairman Harding had been in the role for two years but left following disagreements between the board and supporters during the proposed TIG takeover.

Image source, Inpho

Linfield manager David Healy says that top goalscorer Matthew Fitzpatrick "wants to stay" at the club.

Healy was speaking after speculation that Fitzpatrick may have to leave the Blues at the end of the season due to work commitments.

Fitzpatrick has scored 17 goals during 31 appearances in the Irish Premiership this season.

"The news broke and it is something we are aware of and something we have spoken to Matthew about," Healy told BBC Sport NI.

"It is something we will discuss over the next little while with Matthew. At the end of the day, he is in control of it and will make the big decision.

"I know he wants to stay, he has been fully committed since he came here and it is a decision we will look at."

It was a challenging weekend for the Blues, whose 10-game unbeaten run in the league came to an end after a 2-0 loss against Cliftonville.

Healy added that his side's performance as "unacceptable" with Linfield now eight points behind the Inver Reds at the top of the table.

"Poor performance, shocking result," he continued.

"Overall, unacceptable and not good enough. We fell way short of the demands to play for this football club.

"We didn't deserve to win the game."

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton said his side "deserved" their 2-0 victory over Linfield at Solitude.

Shaun Leppard's goal in the 64th minute gave the home side the lead before Joe Gormley scored in the final seconds.

The result means that the Reds leapfrog Carrick Rangers and move back into the top six of the Irish Premiership.

"First half, neither side really took advantage. I thought we created good opportunities but didn't capitalise," Magilton told BBC Sport NI.

"We started the second half on the front foot. We knew we would have to withstand pressure from Linfield because of the quality of player. We defended for our lives today.

"I thought the second half we played really well and probably deserved it."

Leppard broke the deadlock at Solitude for his second goal of the campaign with Magilton adding that he was "over the moon" that the defender scored.

"Shaun has all the attributes to be an outstanding player," he continued.

"He has probably struggled a bit with inconsistency, but he has had a run of games and hopefully this is the start of something for Shaun. I think he should be scoring a lot more goals from set pieces.

"I am delighted for him, absolutely over the moon."