Philip Lowry continued his rich vein of goalscoring form by netting twice as Crusaders beat 10-man Newry City 4-0 to move third in the Premiership table.
Paul Heatley and Billy Joe Burns scored the other goals against their opponents who had Philip Donnelly sent-off for a punch on Lowry early in the first half.
Lloyd Anderson and Cameron Stewart scored as Carrick Rangers heaped more misery on Portadown with a 2-0 win.
Glenavon drew 0-0 with Coleraine in a mid-table clash at Mourneview Park.
Crues are convincing winners
The Crues comfortably saw off Newry at Seaview to move level on points with second-placed Glentoran ahead of the east Belfast side’s game against Cliftonville at the Oval on Sunday.
Heatley, returning to the squad for the first time since October after serving a seven-match ban, found the net in the seventh minute with a deflected effort from the edge of the area.
Things went from bad to worse for the visitors when Donnelly received a straight red card on 13 minutes after he punched Lowry in the midriff.
The Crues doubled their lead as half-time approached when Burns’ inch-perfect pass found Lowry, whose strong header beat Steven Maguire.
The third came when Burns connected with Jarlath O’Rourke’s looping pass with a diving header and then a downward header from Lowry in the 76th minute secured his second of the game, 12th of the season and three points.
Carrick pile more misery on Portadown
Portadown remain rooted to the foot of the Premiership table and with just one point to show from their first 16 matches of the campaign after a 2-0 defeat at Carrick Rangers.
The opener came on 59 minutes when Andy Mitchell’s corner was helped back into the danger area by Reece Glendinning and Anderson was well placed to fire home his fourth goal of the season.
Another Mitchell corner was the source of Carrick’s second goal with 11 minutes remaining as his inswinging delivery was met with a stooping header by defender Stewart at the back post and his side sit seventh in the table.
For their part, Portadown have gone more than nine hours without scoring a goal.
Spurned opportunities at Mourneview
Sixth-placed Coleraine remain four points ahead of Glenavon in eighth after the teams played out their goal-less draw at Lurgan.
The best opportunity of the first half fell to Eoin Bradley but his glancing header from Danny Wallace’s cross from the left wing went wide of the right post.
Matthew Fitzpatrick fired over the bar from inside the box but Coleraine finished the half strongly, with Michael McCrudden and Kieran Farren having shots blocked inside the area.
The second half was a low key affair with both teams cancelling each other out for the most part.
Farren cleared Peter Campbell’s effort off the line from a tight angle and then Campbell’s powerful strike from the edge of the box was straight at Gareth Deane, who saved well.
With five minutes remaining McCrudden nearly won the game for the Bannsiders, his header going narrowly over the bar from a pinpoint Evan McLaughlin cross.
