Irish League Football

Image source, Inpho

Coleraine boss Ruaidhri Higgins said his side "scored some great goals" in their 5-1 win over 10-man Glenavon.

Joel Cooper netted a hat-trick with Matthew Shevlin and Levi Ives also getting on the scoresheet for the Bannsiders.

And Higgins was pleased with the league leaders' ruthless streak in the second half after an underwhelming first half.

"We played some decent stuff in the first half, but we were a bit lethargic, we got a goal at a really good time," he told BBC Sport NI.

"We asked for more energy, tempo and intensity second half and I felt we came out with the bit between our teeth and scored some great goals.

"We said Tuesday [2-2 draw against Linfield] would be a good point if we did our business today and we did. It's been a good week."

Cooper, who moved into double digits for the season with his treble added that his side were "outstanding" in the second half of the big win.

"It's pleasing [to score three] , the result is more important but to score a hat-trick is nice," he explained.

"I've got two goals in a few games this season and haven't got the third so it's nice. The boys were outstanding and thoroughly deserved the three points."

Image source, Inpho

Ballymena United boss Jim Ervin was left to rue the concession of "cheap goals" as his side lost 2-0 to Larne at the Showgrounds.

The visitors dominated the first half and deservedly led through goals from Paul O'Neill and Conor McKendry.

Those two strikes proved enough to condemn Ballymena to a fourth straight league loss and Ervin voiced his displeasure at the manner of the goals conceded.

"Very poor first half, cheap goals again. I sound like a broken record, and the players know it themselves. The goals we're conceding are just so cheap," he told BBC Sport NI.

"We don't close down dangerous players in the box, we don't stop the cross, we just back off and back off. That's not what we've set out to do, so it's extremely frustrating.

Second half, we changed our shape and were a wee bit better, but when you're chasing two goals, it's always difficult. I was pleased with the second half to a degree, but the first half was shocking."

Ervin added he was struggling to put his finger on what is causing his side to leak so many goals.

"We've changed personnel because that's the first thing you look at. You change it, maybe get away with it for a game or two, and then it starts to creep back in," he continued.

"We've worked all week in training, and everyone's on the money there - fighting for it, blocking crosses, heading and tackling everything in the box, but for whatever reason, when they go onto the pitch, they're scared.

"That's probably the only way I can describe it. In training, they understand their jobs and do them well, but maybe we just give too much respect to our opposition."

Image source, Press Eye

Larne boss Gary Haveron said his side were "very professional in our approach" as they beat Ballymena United 2-0 at the Showgrounds.

First-half goals from Paul O'Neill and Conor McKendry secured the win for the Inver outfit, who are third in the table.

And Haveron believes their first-half display was the perfect response following last weekend's disappointing 1-1 draw against Bangor.

"When you go away from home, it's brilliant to get the clean sheet and the two goals were absolutely fantastic," he told BBC Sport NI.

"The only disappointing thing is we haven't built on that, and we should've had the game dead and buried at half-time, such was our dominance, but delighted with a clean sheet at an awkward place and a difficult pitch, but I thought we were deserving of three points.

"We were disappointed with the Bangor result. We had 70% possession and huffed and puffed but didn't put the ball in the back of the net, so we were disappointed with that because it felt like two points dropped.

"We had to maximise the opportunity today. We were very professional in our approach, dominated the first 10-15 mins and set the tone for the rest of the game."

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Bangor manager Lee Feeney said "neither team had control of the game" during their 1-0 loss against Carrick Rangers at Clandeboye Park.

Danny Gibson netted in stoppage-time to seal the three points in dramatic fashion for Carrick after the home side's Oisin Devlin was sent off with just over 10 minutes to go.

The result puts to an end the Seasiders' run of five games without defeat.

"I felt neither team had control of the game and it was a scrappy affair," Feeney told BBC Sport NI.

"It was two teams battling and that's probably down to their qualities, but I don't think either side ever really had a grip on things.

"It was always going to be a tight one, and if there was going to be a goal, it was likely to be just the one. Unfortunately, Carrick got it."

During the match, both sides had chances with Jay Boyd denied by the woodwork and Tiarnan Mulvenna's strike also close to giving Feeney's side the lead.

However, the turning point proved to be Devlin's dismissal after a late challenge on Gibson with the Carrick striker going on to score the winner in the 93rd minute.

"It was a bad way to lose a game, but we've bottled it up, we'll take it on the chin and move on," Feeney continued.

"At first view, I definitely didn't think it was a red card.

"I thought there were also a lot of other moments in that game that could have gone our way."

Image source, Press Eye

Portadown manager Niall Currie said that he is "disappointed with the goals" that his side conceded during their 2-1 defeat against Glentoran at the Oval.

Eamon Fyfe's strike on 61 minutes cancelled out Pat Hoban's penalty in the first half.

However, Hoban would net just nine minutes after the Portadown leveller to seal the three points for the east Belfast side.

"We made two mistakes tonight and that is the difference. We came tonight and gave a fantastic account of ourselves," Currie told BBC Sport NI.

"I have told them I am hugely disappointed with the manor of the goals, but the performance was superb tonight to a man.

"It is small margins. We have some big hitters missing, but the players who played tonight were absolutely brilliant."

Portadown sit ninth in the table and have won two of their last five games.

Despite winning being the 2-0 victors against defending champions Linfield earlier in the month, Currie admitted that the recent run of fixtures has been "difficult" for his side.

"I think when you get Linfield, Coleraine, Glentoran and Larne, it is difficult.

"I don't think the players confidence will be impacted by this result, particularly not from me."

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Glentoran manager Declan Devine said striker Pat Hoban is "the ultimate professional" after his double sealed a 2-1 win over Portadown at the Oval.

Hoban's penalty had given the home side the lead in the first half, but Eamon Fyfe levelled the game just after the hour mark.

The former Premier Division forward then scored again in the 70th minute to keep Glentoran's unbeaten start to the season at home intact.

"Hoban's levels which he brings on a daily basis, he doesn't just turn up and perform like that, he is the ultimate professional," Devine told BBC Sport NI.

"Every young player in our changing room should be looking at him and seeing what it takes to be a successful professional player.

"We are very fortunate to have him, and I think there is more to come."

Glentoran are also the only team to have scored in all of their league fixtures so far with Hoban's double meaning he has scored five goals this season.

The Glens had to survive a spell of pressure at the end of the match with manager Devine pleased with his side's all-round performance.

"We showed another side to us which is important," Devine continued.

"We had to fight, scrap and do the ugly stuff well and when you have players at the top of the pitch like Hoban, you always have a chance.

"I am really delighted with the application of the players."

Image source, Inpho

Carrick Rangers manager Stephen Baxter says his side "thoroughly deserved" their late 1-0 over Bangor in the Irish Premiership.

Danny Gibson scored in the 93rd minute as Carrick capitalised on Oisin Devlin's red card with just over 10 minutes remaining.

The win ends Carrick's run of four away matches without a victory and Baxter said Carrick were "worthy winners".

"It's a great time to score a goal, always, in any football match," he told BBC Sport NI.

"Two minutes into added time, a team has no time to come back at you. But I think we thoroughly deserved it overall in our play."

After an initial strong start to the season, Carrick had lost seven of their eight matches in all competitions.

However, Baxter was not concerned with that form and said his side had been "ultra-competitive" despite the results.

"Even in the games we've lost, we've stayed competitive, and that's all you can really ask.

"If your team is in the game, you're happy. If you come away beaten four or five-nil and you've been brutal, then you've got problems.

"But we've been in every contest, and that's encouraging.

"Us and Bangor have shocked people. Everybody thought we'd be the two whipping teams this year, but we've held our own so far."

Image source, Inpho

The NI Football League has confirmed a number of rescheduled fixtures on Friday following recent postponements and an abandonment.

Carrick Rangers' match with Bangor was abandoned on Saturday, 13 September after a serious head injury to Paul Heatley.

The 38-year-old sustained a concussion and a head wound as a result of his collision into the perimeter wall in the match and has since returned to playing for the Taylors Avenue side.

Rescheduled fixtures (all kick-offs 19:45 GMT)

Linfield v Crusaders - Tuesday, 25 November 2025

Coleraine v Larne - Tuesday, 25 November 2025

Crusaders v Cliftonville - Tuesday, 9 December 2025

Ballymena United v Cliftonville - Tuesday, 13 January 2026

Carrick Rangers v Linfield- Tuesday, 13 January 2026

Glentoran v Larne - Tuesday, 13 January 2026

Carrick Rangers v Bangor - Tuesday, 3 February 2026

Larne v Linfield - Tuesday, 24 February 2026

Cliftonville v Glentoran - Tuesday, 24 February 2026

Image source, BBC Sport

It's another full weekend in the Irish Premiership with all the sides in action across Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

You can follow all the action on BBC Sport NI.

We start at the Oval on Friday night where Glentoran will hope to close the gap on leaders Coleraine when they take on Portadown.

That game will be live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website while you can also follow updates and watch in-play clips from Bangor v Carrick Rangers which is also on Friday night.

Fellow title challengers Coleraine and Larne will then be in action on Saturday, before champions Linfield travel to Solitude to take on Cliftonville on Sunday.

That game in north Belfast will also be live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website.

We'll have live coverage of Saturday's three games too, with Sportsound on air on Radio Ulster, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport NI website from 14:00 GMT.

There will be live text commentary from every ground on the website with videos of the goals as they go in too.

After the matches, we'll have highlights and reaction from every game.

Friday: Glentoran v Portadown - 19:45 GMT (live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website)

Bangor v Carrick Rangers - 19:45 GMT

Saturday: Coleraine v Glenavon - 15:00 GMT

Dungannon Swifts v Crusaders - 15:00 GMT

Ballymena United v Larne - 17:30 BST

Sunday: Cliftonville v Linfield - 15:00 GMT (live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website)

Image source, Getty Images

Northern Ireland U-17 international Chris Atherton has signed his first professional contract with Chelsea.

The 17-year-old made headlines in 2022 when he became the youngest senior footballer in the United Kingdom aged 13 years and 329 days.

He came on as a second-half substitute in Irish Premiership side Glenavon's 6-0 win over Dollingstown in the League Cup.

Atherton was courted by Premier League clubs after his breakthrough in Northern Ireland before signing for Chelsea's academy in July, where he has been a regular in the side's U18 and U17 teams.

Image source, Pacemaker

A "disappointed" Linfield manager David Healy felt his team "lost control of the game" in Tuesday's 2-2 draw away to Coleraine.

The Blues were two goals to the good at half-time, but failed to push home their advantage in the second half as the Bannsiders fought back to claim a share of the spoils.

Healy felt the loss of Kirk Millar to injury early in the second half was was a contributing factor, but still felt his side ought to have had enough to see it out.

"We're disappointed we didn't find a momentum in the second half," the Linfield manager told BBC Sport NI.

"We gave away too many cheap balls and again, part of that was probably down to we lost Kirk Millar early in the second half. We lost a little bit of experience, a bit of know-how.

"I thought our first half performance was very good. They changed their shape (but) we spoke to the players at half-time as we knew when you're the home team and you're down 2-0 it's easy to have a go and we knew that they would come us a little bit more which they did, so there's a tinge of disappointment that we haven't found a way to win the game."

Sam Roscoe scored Linfield's second and had an opportunity for another before the break, but fired over when Coleraine goalkeeper Aidan Harris spilled a cross.

"We don't normally talk about missed opportunities but we talk about big moments in the dressing room and that was a big moment and an opportunity," Healy lamented.

"We knew that they were gonna come at us and we didn't manage to see it through.

"Some people may think it feels like a defeat but I look at it as glass half full and try and move on very quickly."

Image source, Pacemaker

Coleraine manager Ruaidhri Higgins hailed his side's "resilience" as they battled back from two down at half-time to salvage a 2-2 draw at home to Linfield on Tuesday.

First half goals from Matthew Fitzpatrick and Sam Roscoe put the Blues in an advantageous position at the break, but Coleraine battled back as Matthew Shevlin netted his 100th goal for the club before Charles Dunne struck with eight minutes to go.

The Bannsiders' boss said he "felt we deserved to possibly win the game in the end" but was happy with his team's fighting qualities to secure the draw.

"The fact that we were 2-0 down at half-time and came back to 2-2, hopefully we've sent people home reasonably pleased," Higgins told BBC Sport NI.

"We were a wee bit timid in the first half in terms of defending long balls and defending set plays, timid defending long throw-ins.

"They physically dominated us for periods in the first half but we showed real resilience and great reaction. I actually felt we deserved to possibly win the game in the end.

"We've been better than what we were tonight, there's no doubt about that, but we showed a certain amount of resilience that you need, especially against teams like Linfield, in the second half. We take our point and we move on."

Higgins admitted that he "possibly got it wrong in relation to how we went about it in the first half", but switches at the break helped turn things around.

He also paid tribute to the "outstanding" Shevlin whose goal helped spark the league leaders to life and reach a personal milestone.

"We had to make changes, we had to get leadership on the pitch and I thought Kodi and Lyndon came in and showed that. Lewis McGregor I thought carried a real attacking threat and we got ourselves a point," he added.

"I love Shevy's attitude, how he goes about it. He's brilliant in the dressing room. He's been a fantastic signing for this club for a number of years now.

"One hundred goals is a brilliant achievement and there'll be many more to come I'm sure."