Irish League Football

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Linfield manager David Healy feels their 1-0 win over Crusaders could have been more comfortable, but is happy with another three points on the board.

The Blues hit the woodwork three times in the first half through Kirk Millar, Charlie Allen and Chris McKee, while they went close on a number of occasions.

However, McKee finally broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time and although his side had further chances, it was enough to secure the win.

"It was hard fought, but I thought for large parts of the first half we should have extended our lead with the amount of opportunities we had," Healy told BBC Sport NI.

"That was frustrating and there were moments in the second half where (we could have been) a bit cleaner and tidier and added to our lead.

"Crusaders are dogged, Decky (Caddell) knows the league and they have big 'Chicken' (Jordan Owens) on the line too, so they aren't going to come, wave the white flag and hand three points over.

"I'm pleased with the outcome, pleased with the win and we'll move on to Carrick on Saturday."

With the experience of Jamie Mulgrew and Chris Shields missing, Healy was happy that McKee, Allen and Scot Whiteside have stepped up and made an impact.

"The hardest thing in sport and life, probably, is to keep being successful when you've been successful," he continued.

"We're probably missing one or two of the more experienced heads but the others who came in tonight and Saturday gave us good options, good energy and a freshness.

"They've been in and around the squad long enough now to know that when you get your opportunity, you've got to grasp it."

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Irish Premiership leaders Coleraine's home game with Larne will be shown live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website on Tuesday night.

The game at the Coleraine Showgrounds will see the top two in the league go head-to-head for the second time this season.

Michael Clarke will be joined on commentary by former Ballymena United and Linfield boss David Jeffrey.

Larne are a point behind Coleraine with two games in hand and have won their last three league games.

Coleraine, meanwhile, have failed to win their last two, losing 1-0 against Cliftonville on Saturday.

Joel Cooper scored the winner on his debut for the Bannsiders to help Ruaidhri Higgins' side claim a 1-0 win when the two teams met in August.

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Linfield manager David Healy says his side's 1-0 victory over Bangor at Clandeboye Park was a "big win".

Despite Bangor having the best chance of the first half and making a bright start to the second, Matthew Fitzpatrick netted the only goal of the game on 55 minutes.

The result is Linfield's second on the road of the season with their only other victory away from home also against Bangor.

"We are obviously pleased to win," Healy told BBC Sport NI.

"I have seen Bangor so many games over the last five years, so I am sort of proud of their progress and, in an unselfish way, you feel a bit disappointed you beat a team like Bangor.

"Bangor are so well drilled and such a threat. It was such a big win for us today."

The defending champions are now unbeaten in their last five games and move up to fourth.

Despite missing key players through injury and suspension Healy praised Linfield's "professional performance" in the second half.

"We have to up the ante away from home and we did that today. In the second half it was a very controlled and professional performance," Healy continued.

"It was poor in the first half, we spoke about it in the dressing room and we said it was actually boring me in the first half; it was that sort of game.

"Credit to the players today, we are missing experienced players who normally know how to manage the game."

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Carrick Rangers manager Stephen Baxter has bemoaned the decision to rule out a late goal which would have earned his side a draw against Portadown at Taylors Avenue on Saturday.

Ben Wylie gave the Ports the lead, before Jack Scott equalised from the penalty spot, then Eamon Fyfe netted what proved to be the winner in a 2-1 victory for the visitors.

There was late drama however deep into stoppage time when Adam Lecky headed Joe Crowe's free-kick into the path of Danny Gibson, who headed home what looked like an equaliser, but the linesman flagged for offside.

"When you pile the pressure on and you go into a crowded box and have every single player in the box and that ball comes in and we score off the second ball, I'll need to see that back, because in a crowded box I can't see how you get an offside in that," Baxter told BBC Sport NI.

"If the linesman has got that right from that distance fair play to him, he must have great eyes."

The Carrick boss thought the two teams cancelled each other out.

"I thought both teams shut each other out in many ways. I felt we probably had the better of the first half, certainly territorially, and we spent more time in their half.

"We got into good positions and had them under pressure without really creating a lot or causing much threat.

"In the second half, they had a 15-minute spell when they started getting in and around our box, put a bit of pressure on and then got the goal.

"They caught us high up the pitch and broke to score. We got back into the game quickly with the penalty, but it was naïve on our part not to be tight enough to the wide man and to allow the cross in for their second. That was disappointing."

Portadown manager Niall Currie was satisfied with his side's display.

"We knew it was going to be a very difficult day whenever you come to Carrick, and I've got to make sure that you win your individual battles and you have to go toe-to- toe with them.

"They are a big, strong, physical team with quality and championship winners, so I'm very proud of my players. To a man they were top drawer, and overall, we deserved to win the game, and I can't praise the players high enough.

"We had a difficult run of games. We've had Bangor, now Carrick, and these are the 50/50 games, and today was one, and we showed a real heart and aggression and all the things you need to win a football match."

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Bangor manager Lee Feeney says his side were "very unlucky" after their narrow 1-0 loss against Linfield at Clandeboye Park.

The Seasiders had the best chance of the first half with Chris Johns making a good save to deny Ben Cushnie's effort from a Tiernan Mulvenna cross.

The home side then made a bright start to the second half, but the Blues broke the deadlock against the run of play through Matthew Fitzpatrick just 10 minutes after the break.

"We are definitely improving and getting better," Feeney told BBC Sport NI.

"I know we didn't pick up points today, but I feel like we are getting closer to the top some of the top teams and we are learning as we go along.

"To play 90 minutes against those teams is a big ask, but I felt we were very unlucky today."

Bangor had a good chance to level the game, but Arthurs opted to pass to his strike partner Cushnie rather than have a shot himself.

Feeney turned to his bench and brought on attacking players, but they couldn't help his side find a leveller.

"I felt it was a scrappy game; when you are up against a team with a lot of quality, you try to make it into a battle," Feeney added.

"I felt in the first half we had the best chances and could have got one or two goals.

"You have to be ruthless when you play Linfield. That is twice we have played them now and they have been ruthless, and we haven't and that is why they are champions."

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Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton says that Rory Hale's goal was 'top class' and praised his side's work ethic, attitude and application during their 1-0 victory against Coleraine at Solitude.

The Reds broke the deadlock just before the break when Rory Hale converted Keevan Hawthorne's pass.

Cliftonville are now unbeaten in their last 16 games against the Bannsiders, who remain top of the table despite the defeat.

"In the end, you can take a deep breath when the game is over," Magilton told BBC Sport NI.

"I thought the goal we scored was a really top-class goal and if you watch football all weekend, you might not see a better goal in terms of the way we moved, passed the ball and Rory's finish.

"We dug in so well. I thought our work ethic, attitude and our application were outstanding and another clean sheet [their fourth in a row in the league]."

After a challenging start to the season, when the Reds were without a victory in their opening four games, they have found form and now move into the top six.

Magilton's side sit three points behind fifth-placed Dungannon Swifts.

Cliftonville's attention now turns to Tuesday night, when they face Ballymena United for a spot in the County Antrim Shield final.

"It is about building on the confidence and the momentum in the football club and the players," Magilton continued.

"We have a more settled team now and that is important in selection and players coming off the bench have to add worth and value. Today they did that.

"We won the game today and we have to build on that coming into December when we have a lot of games."

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Coleraine manager Ruaidhri Higgins says his side "lacked quality" in the final third during their 1-0 defeat against Cliftonville at Solitude.

Rory Hale's goal in the 40th minute sealed the three points for the home side and extended the Reds' unbeaten run against Coleraine to 16 games.

Higgins' side remain top of the table but missed the chance to extend their slender advantage over Larne in second position to more than a point.

"We are obviously extremely disappointed," Higgins told BBC Sport NI.

"In the second half we had majority of the play, got into countless good areas over and over again and lacked quality when we got into the final third.

"We have outstanding footballers, but we probably had too many today who weren't at their best. Hence the reason we are going away from Solitude with no points."

The league leaders came into the game after a dramatic draw with Linfield at Windsor Park two weeks ago.

They now face Larne at Ballycastle Road on Tuesday night knowing that if the Inver Reds win they will move into top spot.

"I am glad because we have an opportunity to try and bounce back straight away," Higgins continued.

"We need to recover really well over the next couple of days and get ready to play a good side who are having a brilliant season.

"We will be going all out to at home to get the three points."

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Ballymena United manager Jim Ervin says it would have been "criminal" if his side had not picked up a point in their 2-2 draw with Crusaders at the Showgrounds.

The Sky Blues twice came from behind to salvage a draw in an action-packed encounter.

Jarlath O'Rourke put the Crues ahead, Kian Corbally equalised, Finley Thorndike edged the visitors in front again, but Danny Lafferty's late strike restored parity again.

"First half was very end-to-end and obviously they get the goal from the free-kick," said Ervin.

"We responded the right way and we got a goal back and I thought it was just going to be a matter of time before we kicked on.

"We gave another sloppy goal away but I thought the second half was the most one-sided second half that we have been involved in this year.

"The longer the game goes on you wonder if it's not going to be your day. We had 19 attempts on goal today but to be fair to Declan's boys they put their bodies on the line, then up steps Danny Lafferty with something we know he can do."

The Ballymena boss added that he was disappointed not to take all three points.

"Credit to the boys they bounced back twice. It's two points dropped but potentially it could have been worse."

Crusaders were denied a third consecutive league victory but their manager Declan Caddell believed a draw was a deserved outcome for both sides.

"Overall over the 90 minutes it was probably a fair result. Credit to both teams, they left everything on the pitch.

"For me it could have ended up 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, so credit to both sides for putting on a show.

"It's a difficult place to come, they're a good side, a well drilled side, very physical, but the boys stood up today so I'm pleased."

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After Glentoran's defeat to Dungannon Swifts and Larne's comeback win over Glenavon, we've got four more Irish Premiership matches for you on Saturday.

Victory for Gary Haveron's side saw them close the gap on league leaders Coleraine to just a point while the Swifts climbed up to fourth in the table after their win at the Oval.

The Bannsiders head to Solitude today to take on Cliftonville while 5th and 6th placed sides Linfield and Bangor face off at Clandeboye Park.

Carrick Rangers, fresh from their Co Antrim Shield semi-final win over Larne, welcome Portadown with Crusaders travel to Ballymena, looking for a third straight league win.

Follow all the action on Radio Ulster's Sportsound (14:00 GMT) with Derry City manager Tiernan Lynch joining Joel Taggart in the studio.

We'll have live text commentary from every game with clips of all the goals as they go in on the BBC Sport NI website.

Irish Premiership fixtures (all 15:00 GMT kick-off):

Ballymena Utd v Crusaders

Bangor v Linfield

Carrick Rangers v Portadown

Cliftonville v Coleraine

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Glenavon boss Michael O'Connor will look to the positives despite seeing his side go down 2-1 at Larne on Friday.

Luke Cartwright headed the Lurgan side into a half-time lead, but Paul O'Neill netted an equaliser shortly after the break with Conor McKendry popping up with the winner with 77 minutes on the clock.

While disappointed with coughing up the equaliser so early in the second period, O'Connor expressed pride in his players' efforts and feels they can take heart from how they battled to the end.

"It was a hard way to lose but I thought we were really good tonight, especially in the first half," he told BBC Sport NI.

"It's schoolboy stuff, conceding straight after half-time the way we did. But I'm really proud of the players tonight. They were great in the effort and commitment they gave. It's a tough place to come, but I thought we did ourselves proud tonight.

"Towards the end, we looked like we might get a chance. We were rolling the ball into the box in the last four or five minutes, but it just didn't fall to us."

Glenavon's goal came from a set-piece and this was an area of attack that may have brought further rewards. O'Connor feels that may well be the case going forward and something they can build on.

"I think it's going to be a big part of the second half of the season for us," he continued.

"Set pieces can pick up points and make a big difference. I thought the game plan worked really well tonight, especially in the first half, where we sat in, we knew we'd hit on the counter-attack, and we did it well. But listen, they're a top team."

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Glentoran manager Declan Devine said his side's performance in their 1-0 defeat by Dungannon Swifts was "totally unacceptable".

James Singleton's second-half own goal helped the Swifts to inflict a second successive league loss on Glentoran and their first at The Oval this season.

And Devine lamented their lack of "courage" and inability to produce a response to an equally sub-par showing in defeat against Glenavon a fortnight ago.

"So frustrated but this performance has been coming for a week or two and we have to accept over the last two games we have been poor," he told BBC Sport NI,

"There's no way of dressing it up, we have to get back to the performances of a few weeks ago and show more courage.

"Conditions were poor but there was no excuse to not get on the ball and play forward passes and ask questions of the opposition.

"That is something that has to be addressed quickly. It's totally unacceptable tonight."

Devine said the goal Glentoran conceded was "soft" and also questioned the decision to show substitute Jonny Russell a straight red card for his late challenge on Steven Scott.

"I've never seen a straight red for something that happened 75 yards for our own goal," he added.

"I can't believe it was given but that's not the reason we lost the game tonight, we lost the game because we weren't at the levels we need to be at to represent this club, and we need to get our finger out very quickly."

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Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree said his side had to "grind out a result" in their 1-0 win over Glentoran.

In the pouring rain at The Oval, a second-half own goal from James Singleton helped the Swifts to a first win at the east Belfast venue over the Glens since 2019.

And McAree was delighted they dug in and got all three points, a result that takes them up to fourth in the table.

"We knew it wasn't going to be pretty; we probably didn't play as well as we'd like to," he told BBC Sport NI.

"We had to grind out a result, restrict Glentoran to as few chances as possible and give ourselves an opportunity to nick something and that's what we did.

"We hadn't scored a second half goal away from home all season and that was the challenge, and we managed to get that. To get three points is hugely rewarding for the efforts we put in."

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Larne manager Gary Haveron hailed match-winner Conor McKendry following his side's 2-1 win over Glenavon at Inver Park, but still feels some officials have a "preconceived notion" about the winger.

McKendry showed great composure to net what proved to be the winner in the 77th minute tocomplete the turnaround afyter Glenavon had led at the break.

Despite his delight at how his team turned things around, Haveron still believes McKendry gets a raw deal when it comes to being awarded free-kicks.

"I genuinely don't know what this lad has to do to get a free-kick in this league," the Larne boss told BBC Sport NI.

"Some people seem to have a preconceived notion about him where he doesn't get a decision. I'm not saying everything is a stonewall foul, but you can't not give one decision against the kid.

"I see this week in and week out. We've got to protect players like Conor McKendry and players like that.

"It's frustrating for him but what he does do is come up for us in big moments and produced another classy finish."

Haveron said there were some stern words at half-time regarding how they conceded from a corner when Luke Cartwright' headefd the Lurgan Blues ahead.

However, he was delighted with his team's response in the second period to narrow the gap at the top on leaders Coleraine.

"We defended the set-pieces much better in the second half but had to do it the hard way," he added.

"Going a goal behind and having to dig deep, then showing the character to come back and win 2-1 was really important. I'm pleased to get the result.

"Glenavon came and were really spirited and fought really hard, but ultimately, with the chances we created, we're happy with the three points."

Watch highlights as Larne come from behind to beat Glenavon 2-1 in the Irish Premiership.

READ MORE: Larne fight back to beat bottom side Glenavon

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