Reds defeat Coleraine and Blues see off Bangor - report & highlights

Rory Hale and Matthew Fitzpatrick were on target for their respective sides

Irish Premiership leaders Coleraine passed up the opportunity to increase their advantage at the summit of the table as Rory Hale's goal gave Cliftonville a 1-0 win over the Bannsiders at Solitude.

The midfielder struck before half-time to give the Reds victory and extend their unbeaten league run to four games, without conceding a goal in each.

Ruaidhri Higgins' side lead nearest challengers Larne by a single point ahead of the meeting between the top two on Tuesday night while Cliftonville move into the top half of the standings.

Matthew Fitzpatrick's second-half strike helped Linfield grind out a 1-0 win at Bangor and end a run of three top-flight draws in a row.

David Healy's side move to within eight points of the pacesetters with three matches in hand.

Ballymena United twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Crusaders while Portadown were 2-1 winners at Carrick Rangers.

Hale goal sees Reds see off Coleraine

Cliftonville captain Hale broke the deadlock at Solitude five minutes before the break to make it 16 games unbeaten against the Bannsiders.

The move began when Johnny Addis picked out Keevan Hawthorne with a trademark long pass out of defence.

The midfielder looked up and picked out the unmarked Hale racing into the box who calmly side-footed past Coleraine goalkeeper Aidan Harris from close range.

Earlier, Eric McWoods twice went close for the home side, blazing over the bar, while at the other end Jamie Glackin shot into the side netting when well placed.

Cliftonville came close to doubling their advantage on a number of occasions after half-time.

First, Hale narrowly missed the target with a 20 yard effort before Rowan McDonald blocked Ryan Curran's goal bound effort on the line.

Defender Jack Keaney, in an advanced position, was denied by a smart save by Harris following a quickly taken Rory Hale free-kick.

At the other end, Will Patching's free-kick just after the hour was comfortably saved by Reds keeper PJ Morrison and the stopper was at it again deep into added time when he dived low to his left to deny second half sub Ollie Devlin what would have been a dramatic equaliser.

Blues get the better of Bangor

In what was a fairly tame first half at Clandeboye, the best chance fell Bangor's way. Ben Cushnie got on the end of Tiernan Mulvnna's through ball in a central area, but could not beat the onrushing Chris Johns who made himself big and denied the Seasiders from taking an early lead.

It was the visitors who broke the deadlock 10 minutes into the second half against the run of play, as Fitzpatrick scored his 10th goal of the season for Linfield.

Bangor failed to deal with a long throw-in from the left, with Isaac Baird flicking on to Fitzpatrick in the area who took one touch, turned and fired back across goal and into the net.

The hosts came close to levelling seven minutes later, but Ben Arthurs was perhaps too selfless in trying to find his strike partner Cushnie when he could have shot himself.

The Blues saw out the game professionally to secure a second win of the season at Clandeboye Park.

Spoils shared at Showgrounds

Despite a bright opening from Ballymena it was Crusaders who almost took the lead after a quarter of an hour when Elliot Dunlop guided his header from a Ross Clarke cross inches wide of the post.

Adam Brooks also skewed an effort wide after being put through one-on-one with home goalkeeper Sean O'Neill.

Crusaders eventually did break the deadlock on 31 minutes from a well-worked free kick as Ross Clarke back-heeled a free kick into the path of Jarlath O'Rourke, who beat Sean O'Neill with a crisp, low shot.

But Ballymena levelled six minutes later when a Stephen O'Donnell long ball deflected off Josh Williamson's foot into the path of Kian Corbally who found the bottom corner with a precise finish.

However, the sides were level for just three minutes as Ballymena gave away possession in their own half. Brooks' shot came back off the base of the post but Finley Thorndike was on hand to tap home the rebound.

Ballymena came within a whisker of levelling on the hour mark when Matthew Clarke's low cross-shot was deflected onto his own crossbar by defender Odhran McCart with the ball eventually ending up in Jonny Tuffey's arms.

In a frantic second period, Ballymena eventually equalised three minutes from the end when Danny Lafferty's low shot from 25 yards squeezed past Tuffey at the post.

Ports edge past Carrick

It was a cagey opening at Taylors Avenue, with the visitors making the sharper start as Jordan Gibson threaded a left footed strike from the edge of the area in the sixth minute that Nathan Gartside steered away.

As the half progressed, the Ports again looked the most likely when Eamon Fyfe teed up Gibson, only for the midfielder to lift a rising effort well over from the edge of the box.

Minutes before the interval, Carrick had their biggest opening of the half when Ryan Waide crossed low across the six yard area, but it drifted beyond the outstretched Joe Crowe.

The visitors did break the deadlock shortly after the restart. Jimmy Callacher could only clear Steven McCullough's cross as far as Ben Wylie, who steered a composed finish into the bottom corner with the outside of his left boot.

Niall Currie's side's lead lasted only a matter of minutes, after Divin Isamala brought down Waide in the penalty area and Jack Scott dispatched the resulting spot kick low past Aaron McCarey for his third league goal of the campaign.

Portadown restored their advantage in the 68th minute when James Teelan broke past Scott on the left and threaded a cross to Fyfe at the back post, and the Ports' top scorer made no mistake, heading home from close range.

There was to be late drama deep into injury time when Adam Lecky headed Crowe's free-kick into the path of Gibson, who headed home what looked like an equaliser, but the Gers were denied after the linesman flagged for offside.