Coleraine move clear at top as Swifts and Larne win

Joel Cooper (right) celebrates scoring his second goal against Glenavon

Joel Cooper hit a hat-trick as Coleraine thumped basement boys Glenavon 5-1 to move three points clear at the top of the Premiership with Dungannon Swifts and Larne also the victors.

Cooper struck either side of half-time to give the Showgrounds hosts a 2-0 lead and Matthew Shevlin added a third.

Glenavon keeper Mark Byrne was sent-off for a last-man foul on Cooper before Levi Ives made it four.

Cooper completed his treble before Paul McGovern's superb 40-yard finish gave Glenavon a late consolation.

Dungannon Swifts moved up to fourth thanks to a 2-0 win over Crusaders at Stangmore Park.

Both goals came in the second half with Junior firing home before Andrew Mitchell sealed the points.

At the Ballymena Showgrounds, goals from Paul O'Neill and Conor McKendry extended Larne's unbeaten run to three games.

Cooper stars for table-toppers

Cooper starred as Coleraine brushed aside the challenge of 10-man Glenavon as they re-established their three-point advantage at the top.

Cooper broke the deadlock three minutes before half-time when he out muscled his marker at the back post to head past Byrne after Shevlin had flicked on Lyndon Kane's cross.

The in-form front man doubled the home side's lead six minutes after the restart with an exquisite finish from just inside the penalty area.

Dean Jarvis did brilliantly to pick out the forward before the one-time Glenavon man did the rest, stroking the ball low past a helpless Byrne.

Shevlin got in on the scoring act with 12 minutes remaining when he was in the right place at the right to sweep home Zane Okoro's cross from the right.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors nine minutes from time when Byrne was shown a straight red card for a desperate challenge on Cooper as he bore down on goal.

Harry Murphy donned the goalkeeping gloves and one of his first actions was to pick the ball out of the net after Ives slotted home.

Cooper wasn't to be denied the match ball and Murphy was powerless to prevent his blistering drive from 25 yards completing the treble four minutes from the end.

Glenavon pulled a goal back with moments remaining through an audacious long-distance McGovern lob from 40-yards, but it was scant consolation on a day to forget for Michael O'Connor's men.

Larne overcome Ballymena at the Showgrounds

The Inver Reds were on the front foot from the outset, with O'Neill's early long-range strike tipped over smartly by namesake Sean O'Neill inside two minutes.

McKendry thought he'd created the opener shortly after when his low cross was tucked home by O'Neill, only for the offside flag to swiftly end Larne's celebrations.

O'Neill broke the deadlock on 20 minutes, sliding in to steer Tiarnan O'Connor's low ball from the right into the corner for his first league goal of the season.

Randall then came within inches of adding to O'Neill's opener in the 32nd minute, his thunderous effort from distance crashing off the crossbar.

Just before the break, McKendry doubled the visitors' lead after latching onto Mark Randall's incisive pass and drilling a right-footed strike past O'Neill at the near post, to get on the scoresheet for the second game in succession.

The second half offered little for Jim Ervin's men to build on, with Larne comfortably dictating possession and both McKendry and O'Neill sending speculative efforts high and wide.

Late on, Aaron Donnelly's dipping strike almost added gloss, forcing another fine save from the overworked Ballymena stopper to cap a thoroughly dominant away performance.

Dungannon continue impressive run

Crusaders enjoyed a bright start to the game and were displaying some slick attacking patterns to try and break down the hosts.

They would be unable to test Declan Dunne in the early going with Dungannon getting the first shot as Sean McAllister hit a close-range volley after a ball was knocked down from a corner.

The Swifts went closest of the first half when Caolan Marron got his head on a Kealan Dillon free-kick, forcing a save from Jonny Tuffey.

Crusaders' best chance came through Elliot Dunlop, who was quick to latch onto a loose ball which had cut open the Dungannon Swifts defence. However, Declan Dunne was quick off his line to deny the winger space to take a shot.

Dungannon put on a relentless attacking display in the second half, but the Crues defence were able to cope with the pressure with Tuffey also making crucial saves.

The best chances in this spell came from a Thomas Maguire header, which required a reaction save and a volley from Adam Glenny which Tuffey also dealt with.

The hosts opened the scoring on 74 minutes after Junior finished a Sean McAllister cross from the left.

Mitchell made it 2-0 four minutes from time - Maguire created space on the right to deliver a cross which was hit home from close-range by the substitute.