Ahmed Salam and Kofi Balmer get to know each other very well as they tangle on the touchline and tumble into the advertising boards.

Spreading the love this Christmas.

The hosts are quick out of the blocks at the Oval and Jay Donnelly goes close to a 17th league goal of the season.

The striker fires in a goalbound shot but a deflection off James Singleton sees the ball drift an inch wide.

Glens skipper James McClean then scoops wide at the backpost from the resulting corner.

That's great football from Larne.

Mark Randall glides forward and checks back inside, he tees up Ben Doherty but the winger's whipped effort from 20 yards is just over the top.

Things have calmed down on the pitch from that frantic start but there's still a good atmosphere around Inver Park.

Larne could have been ahead inside 40 seconds!

David McDaid has a go from range but Chris Johns doesn't deal with the danger and spills the ball.

He's lucky Matthew Clarke is there to stop Andy Scott having the easiest of tap ins from two yards.

We're up and running slightly ahead of schedule.

Let's hope it's a good one!

Northern Ireland and Liverpool footballer Rachel Furness has been named the BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year 2021.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp surprised Northern Ireland's record goalscorer with the trophy at their training ground.

There was some concern for Larne midfielder John Herron when he collapsed on the pitch against Portadown last month.

"As soon as I went down I knew I was struggling to breathe. I blacked out and the next thing I remember is waking up in the ambulance," he recalled.

Following Christian Eriksen's collapse at Euro 2020 and Sergio Aguero's retirement, heart issues are a prevalent topic in world football.

After receiving treatment on the pitch, the former Celtic, Blackpool and Scotland Under-21 midfielder spent four nights in hospital being treated for a cardiac condition.

But not only is his heart undamaged, which doctors have described as a "miracle", he is aiming to return to action in the near future.

Read more here.

Crowd numbers as we approach the halfway point of the Premiership campaign.

Stephen Craigan
Former Northern Ireland defender on BBC Two NI

That's some going from Sean Ward - and he gets to hit the milestone against his former club!

Two teams in cracking form meet at the Oval with the hosts in with a chance of topping the table by the end of the night.

Glentoran have won their last six league games and a win, along with Linfield failing to beat Larne, would see Mick McDermott's men leapfrog pacesetters Cliftonville.

McDermott has kept faith with the side that defeated Carrick Rangers last Saturday.

Glenavon, who have chalked up three straight Premiership victories, make just one change after edging Coleraine last time out.

Gary Hamilton brings in Michael O'Connor to his Lurgan Blues line-up in place of Calum Birney.

Glentoran: McCarey, Burns, McCartan, Marshall, J Donnelly, R Donnelly, P McClean (capt), Clucas, Crowe, Marron, McMenamin.

Subs: Garrett, Bigrimana, McDaid, Smith, Cushnie, Plum, Glendinning.

Glenavon: Taylor, A Doyle, Waterworth, O'Connor, Campbell, Snoddy, Fitzpatrick, Wallace, Singleton (capt), Garrett, Ward.

Subs: Brown, Hall, Beggs, Harmon, Hunter, J Doyle, Lynch.

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, BBC Sport

Larne are looking to get back on the winning track after a surprise 2-1 defeat by Ballymena United last Friday night.

Tiernan Lynch has made two changes from that defeat, with Albert Watson and Graham Kelly making way for Andy Scott and Dean Jarvis. It means Lynch is likely to swap a back five to a traditional back four in a bid to deal with Linfield's threat.

Just like Larne, Linfield also dropped points last weekend after being held by basement side Warrenpoint Town. Chris Shields, Michael Newberry and Trai Hume come back into the starting team from that 1-1 draw.

Martin Donnelly drops to the bench while Ross Larkin and the in-form Kirk Millar miss out altogether.

Right, who wants some team news?

Coming right up...

Even by the Irish League's lofty standards, this is some title race we have on our hands with the top six teams separated by just nine points.

Cliftonville lead the way (they play Carrick Rangers tomorrow) and are one of three teams who could be top of the pile come the end of Saturday.

Linfield and Glentoran are in hot pursuit and are ready to pounce on any more dropped points from the Reds.

BBC Two

You can watch tonight's game between Larne and Linfield live on BBC Two NI and on BBC iPlayer.

Stephen Watson presents live from Inver Park and is joined by the dynamic duo of David Jeffrey and Stephen Craigan.

Thomas Kane is on commentary duty with former Glentoran and Crusaders defender Paul Leeman.

While not directly linked to the Irish League, the growing, cautious feeling about large gatherings has led to the Irish government taking steps to tackle the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Crowds at sporting events in the Republic of Ireland will be limited to 50% capacity with a maximum of 5,000 people under new measures introduced to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The announcement comes two months after full crowds were welcomed back inside stadia.

With the Omicron variant driving rising case numbers Taoiseach Micheal Martin announced new restrictions on Friday.

The measures are to stay in place until 30 January, with the date under review.

Image source, Inpho

Everybody just loves the Nations League, don't they?

We're only joking, obviously, but if the competition is for you then here is when you can see Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in action over the next year.

Ian Baraclough's men will face Greece, Cyprus/ or Estonia and Kosovo in Group C2 - including a quadruple header in June (yes, you read that correctly).

The Republic take on Scotland, Ukraine and Armenia in B1.

Ipswich Town have appointed Manchester United assistant first-team coach Kieran McKenna as their new manager.

The 35-year-old has signed a three-and-a-half year contract to succeed Paul Cook at the League One club.

The Northern Irishman was part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's coaching team at Old Trafford and stayed on after the Norwegian was sacked last month.

"It feels like the right time, project and club to make my first step into first-team management," said McKenna.

"Leaving a club like Manchester United was obviously a difficult decision, but I strongly believe in the opportunity to build something here."

Image source, Getty Images

Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough has signed a new two-year contract to remain in charge for the upcoming Nations League and Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.

The Irish FA board unanimously opted to extend his deal in October and Baraclough indicated in early November that all details had been agreed.

Final confirmation of the deal proved to be a fairly protracted affair.

Baraclough's current contract expired at the end of the World Cup qualifiers.

Image source, Inpho