Crusaders beat Glentoran 3-2 to move second in the Irish Premiership table as Cliftonville were hammered 4-1 by Ballymena United.
Linfield saw off Carrick Rangers 3-1 to go third, with the Crues, Blues and Reds all five points behind leaders Larne, with the Glens now in fifth.
Crusaders’ Chris Hegarty, Ballymena forward David McDaid and Linfield’s Eetu Vertainen all scored two goals.
Coleraine beat Dungannon Swifts 2-0 in Saturday’s other top flight match.
Crues battle past Glens
Adam Lecky headed Crusaders into the lead from close range at Seaview in the fourth minute and just over a minute later Daniel Purkis levelled for Glentoran.
Bobby Burns’ well timed pass left Daniel Purkis through on goal, with the striker finding the bottom left-hand corner.
The first-half scoring did not end there as the Crues retook the lead through Hegarty after his strong header from a Ross Clarke corner found the net despite Aaron McCarey getting a hand to the ball.
It was level again on the 50th minute when Jay Donnelly back-heeled James Singleton’s strike into the back of the net.
The home side retook the lead when Hegarty stooped low to connect with Lecky’s overhead kick to grab his second of the game.
Reds routed at Ballymena
Cliftonville started the day in second but emerged very much second best to a David McDaid-inspired Ballymena at the Showgrounds.
On 36 minutes the striker collected the ball with his back to goal in a crowded penalty area and cleverly spun away from defender Jonny Addis before dragging the ball past keeper Nathan Gartside and rolling it home in one movement.
Ballymena then scored twice inside two minutes before the hour mark.
Firstly McDaid broke down the right hand side and took advantage of Cliftonville defender Luke Turner losing his footing before drilling the ball across the face of goal for the in-rushing Kym Nelson to slide home.
Then less than 120 seconds later, Nelson and McDaid combined for the latter to slip a pass into the path of skipper Josh Kelly to fire past Gartside.
Cliftonville pulled a goal back with 20 minutes left, Ronan Hale finding the top corner with a smart finish.
With seven minutes left, Cliftonville keeper Nathan Gartside’s weak goal kick was seized upon by substitute Ryan Waide who raced clear before unselfishly squaring for McDaid to notch his second of the game.
It brought Cliftonville’s unbeaten run of eight games in all competitions and four straight clean sheets to an end, while Ballymena move up to seventh in the league table.
Linfield extend unbeaten run
Linfield started well at Windsor Park, Vertainen opening the scoring on two minutes when he tapped in from three yards out from a pinpoint Matthew Clarke cross from the left wing.
On 28 minutes Vertainen made it 2-0. He timed his run to perfection and took full advantage of a Jimmy Callacher through ball going one-on-one with Ross Glendinning and passing the ball past him.
Carrick gave themselves some hope on 80 minutes when Tilney fired past Johns from a Reece Glendinning pass. Tilney’s first touch was perfect and he made no mistake from inside the area on the left side.
Linfield secured the points in stoppage time when Robbie McDaid raced through and side-footed the ball past Glendinning.
The win for Linfield leaves them unbeaten in their last 10 games in all competitions.
Bannsiders banish Swifts
Two quick fire goals early in the first half helped Coleraine cruise to a comfortable 2-0 win over Dungannon Swifts at the Showgrounds.
There was barely three minutes on the clock at Ballycastle Road when leading goalscorer Matthew Shevlin pounced on a goalkeeping error from Declan Dunne, who could only parry Dean Jarvis’s long range shot, to fire home his 14th goal of the season.
Just seven minutes later and it was 2-0 to the home side as Conor McDermott scored his first goal for Coleraine since his summer switch from Cliftonville.
The defender cut in from the right wing before curling an unstoppable left foot shot high into the roof of the net past the despairing dive of Dunne.
Bannsiders’ keeper Gareth Deane produced a number of fine saves, especially in the first half, to deny Gerardo Bruna, from a free-kick, and Joe McCready, diving low to turn away the striker’s effort.
Oran Kearney’s men, too, had opportunities, Conor McKendry volleying over the bar following a corner and Lee Lynch blasting wide. Matthew Shevlin had an effort cleared off the line too by Dungannon defender Mayowa Animasahun.
Sixth-placed Coleraine were nearly made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal near the end when sub Ben Gallagher’s deflected shot crashed off the crossbar, allowing the Bannsiders to make it four clean sheets in a row.
