Larne seal comeback win as Coleraine and Reds draw

Sean Graham and Tiarnan O'Connor were the Larne goalscorers against Carrick

Larne moved up two places into fourth in the Irish Premiership table with a 2-1 comeback win over east Antrim derby rivals Carrick Rangers at Taylors Avenue.

Nedas Maciulaitis tapped home from close range in the 24th minute to put the hosts in front but Sean Graham levelled with a header on 66.

Tiarnan O'Connor fired into the bottom corner with seven minutes remaining to net the winner and his first goal since signing for the champions from Harland & Wolff Welders.

Larne are now unbeaten in nine league outings.

At Ballycastle Road meanwhile, Coleraine drew 0-0 with Cliftonville.

The seventh-placed Reds remain three points ahead of the Bannsiders, who move up a place to eighth.

Invermen recover to take win

After a slow start to the game at Carrick, the home side broke the deadlock when Danny Gibson connected with a long ball by Luke McCullough, travelled into the box, rounded stopper Rohan Ferguson and fired towards the back post for Maciulaitis to score.

Larne then upped the tempo as they hunted for a quick equaliser with Ross Glendinning producing a good save to deny O'Connor's strike before also stopping Conor McKendry's effort.

However, it was Carrick who made the brighter finish to the first half and came close to doubling their lead when David Cushley fired a strong free-kick towards goal, but Ferguson was able to gather his effort.

The away side levelled the game when Graham nodded home McKendry's cross from near the by-line.

Chances remained at a premium but Larne took the lead in the 83rd minute when O'Connor connected with a looping cross down the left wing by Aaron Donnelly and found the bottom right-hand corner for his first goal for the Inver Reds.

A huge save from Ferguson followed shortly after with the Larne keeper making a great reaction save to prevent Gibson's close-range effort from levelling the game.

Stalemate at Showgrounds

The points were shared at the Showgrounds as Coleraine and Cliftonville fought out a goalless draw, a result which sees the Bannsiders leapfrog Ballymena United in the table.

Jamie McGonigle looked lively in the opening stages of the first half and forced David Odumosu into a fine save in the ninth minute, the Reds' goalkeeper diving full length to his left to parry the striker's goalbound shot.

At the other end, Destiny Ojo should have done better after Luke Conlan skipped past Jack Scott on the left wing, but the big Cliftonville striker was unable to get contact on the ball with the goal at his mercy.

Conor Pepper blazed over the bar when presented with the chance by an errant pass out of defence by Lyndon Kane while Connor Murray did likewise from the edge of the penalty area.

Murray continued to look the most likely to break the deadlock for the hosts and he forced Odumosu into a smart save just before the hour mark with a well struck shot from the edge of the penalty area.

Matthew Shevlin and Joe Gormley, with 32 league goals evenly divided between them, were introduced by their respective managers with a quarter of the game remaining but it was Declan McManus who almost broke the deadlock.

The striker did well to close down Jack Keaney's attempted clearance but was left frustrated as his block went just the wrong side of the post much to Odumosu's relief.

The visitors were restricted to few chances in the second period and while Odhran Casey came close to grabbing all three points in added time he was unable to direct his header on target from a Micheal Glynn cross.

Coleraine have won just one of their past eight league games while Cliftonville have just one win and one draw from seven top division encounters.