Irish Premiership: Larne back on top as Cliftonville and Linfield win

Larne have returned to the top of the Irish Premiership table with a 5-0 win over Portadown at Shamrock Park.

Robbie McDaid scored a late winner as Linfield defeated Glenavon 2-1.

Cliftonville beat Dungannon Swifts 2-0 and Newry City comprehensively saw off Carrick Rangers 4-1 at the Showgrounds.

Ballymena United travel to Crusaders on Monday in the final fixture of the weekend.

Larne return to the top of the table following a clinical five-goal victory over bottom side Portadown, who are winless in 15 league games.

Millar scored his seventh goal of the season after touching home a Doherty corner before the winger turned from provider to goalscorer after capitalising on Luke Wilson miscontrol on the edge of the Ports box.

Niall Currie’s side capitulated just after half-time as Larne netted three times in a five-minute spell.

Bonis rifled home from close range against his former side before Doherty grabbed his second of the afternoon after good work by Paul O’Neill to spot the winger unmarked in the box.

Bolger piled on the misery on Portadown as he scored his first Larne goal in 54 games to complete the rout as Lynch’s side moved three clear of the Glens, who have a game in hand.

McDaid hits late winner

Linfield came from behind to beat Glenavon 2-1 thanks to goals by Daniel Finlayson and McDaid after Michael Glynn had given the visitors the lead in the second half.

The game started slowly before Matthew Clarke put in a delightful ball from the left-hand side which fell to McDaid, and the striker looked certain to score but for a superb point-blank save from Rory Brown in the Glenavon goal.

The visitors who took the lead on quite stunning style midway through the second half. Glynn picked the ball up after some lacklustre Linfield defending and let fly from 25 yards. His speclative effort took Chris Johns by surprise and flew into the back of the net.

The Blues hit back ten minutes later through Finlayson, who made no mistake from close range after Jimmy Callacher’s header across goal.

Linfield’s winner came four minutes from time as McDaid, who had had a frustrating afternoon, let fly from 20 yards out and saw his effort fly past Brown.

A form of VAR was demonstrated in the game as part of a feasibility study aimed at examining the potential of introducing the technology into the Irish Premiership.

Reds up to third

Cliftonville moved into third place with a comfortable victory over struggling Dungannon Swifts at Stangmore Park.

The Reds dominated the first half but only had Ryan Curran’s 23rd-minute goal to show for their efforts. The forward’s scuffed shot trickled inside the post after Swifts striker Joe McCready saw an early shot saved in a first half that was otherwise dominated by the visitors.

The in-form Ronan Hale was a constant threat and twice had shots saved before striking the crossbar with a volley from the edge of the area. Joe Gormley and Curran were also denied by the busy Declan Dunne.

Dungannon improved after the break, but they struggled to carve out a clear-cut opportunity and Cliftonville sealed the victory when Curran headed in Luke Turner’s cross from six yards out.

Ben Gallagher did hit the inside of the post for the home team in the final minute, but Cliftonville held firm to extend Dungannon’s winless run in the league to eight games.

Teelan stars in Newry victory

Donal Rocks, Philip Donnelly and James Teelan (2) scored as Newry proved too strong for Carrick to leapfrog Ballymena into ninth in the table.

Rocks opened the scoring after Teelan’s free header, which was a result of Dale Montgomery’s lovely looping pass, caused Ross Glendinning to produce a fine save. However, Cliftonville loanee Donal Rocks was able to head in the rebound from close range.

Newry couldn’t hold the lead until half-time as in the 41st minute the away side equalised through Andy Mitchell when his free-kick took a deflection off a City defender and found the back of the net.

The home side retook the lead through Donnelly, who connected with a long throw-in, and his resulting volley proved too strong for Ross Glendinning.

Teelan ensured all three points were staying in county Down in the 67th minute after along with Rocks, he found himself through on goal after a mix-up in the away side’s defence.

Glendinning was able to block Rocks’ original strike but 20-year-old Teelan knocked in the rebound.

The busy winger wasn’t finished as he scored his second of the night after connecting with Dale Montgomery’s pass and made no mistake from close range.

Both teams had injury blows early in the first half with Carrick captain David Cushley coming off in the opening 10 minutes with an ankle injury, while the home side’s top goal scorer Daniel Hughes also had his game cut short due to an injury.