'Sockgate', face-offs and Gibson goals - Irish Premiership takeaways

Coleraine's Joel Cooper in action against Harry Wilson of Cliftonville

The second set of fixtures of the new Irish Premiership season may have seen only four matches played rather than the regular six, but Saturday's action still managed to throw up its fair share of talking points.

Carrick Rangers and Glentoran established themselves as the pacesetters at this very early stage of the 2025-26 campaign as both clubs made it six points from six by securing home wins over Glenavon and Bangor respectively.

Elsewhere, Cliftonville and Coleraine played out a goalless draw at Solitude, while Portadown defeated nine-man Dungannon Swifts at Stangmore Park for their first victory of the new term.

BBC Sport NI looks at some of the main takeaways from the weekend's quadruple-header.

Defences 'box clever' after 'sockgate'

Ultimately, some of the talking points around the eagerly anticipated 'match of the day' between Cliftonville and Coleraine surrounded events before the game and during the half-time interval of Saturday's heavyweight encounter in north Belfast.

In the run-up to kick-off it emerged that Coleraine had neglected to bring their match socks to Solitude, with a representative of the Bannsiders having to be hastily dispatched to a local sports retailer to acquire the necessary footwear, in dark blue to avoid any potential clash of colours with their hosts.

Then, after a first half which saw both sides barely able to land a glove on their opponents, supporters were treated to a half-time face-off in the centre circle as boxers Matty Boreland and Ruadhan Farrell squared up.

Boreland, a Coleraine supporter, and Cliftonville fan Farrell, will meet on the undercard of the Lewis Crocker-Paddy Donovan rematch at Windsor Park on 13 September.

On the pitch, Magilton's men and Higgins' charges slugged it out after some early sparring, but neither was able to find a knockout blow and had to settle for a share of the points.

Despite the array of attacking talent on display, including Joel Cooper, Matthew Shevlin and Joe Gormley, defences were largely on top and goalmouth action mostly at a premium.

Ryan Curran came close to scoring for the home side while substitute Gormley believed the challenge which helped prevent him scoring in the dying moments was metaphorically 'below the belt' and should have been punished with a penalty.

Cliftonville still chase their first win of the season, while Coleraine fans retain high hopes that their club's investment will continue to allow them to 'punch above their weight' in comparison with previous years and add to their solitary previous Irish League title success in 1974.

Gibson among the goals again

Danny Gibson has made a strong start to the campaign for Carrick Rangers

The race for the Gibson Cup may be very much in its infancy but the name of the trophy which is awarded annually to the Irish League champions was well to the fore on Saturday.

Danny Gibson's first-half goal at Taylors Avenue proved enough to condemn Glenavon to a second straight league defeat, the former Glentoran striker making it three goals in two games after contributing a double in the stunning opening day comeback success against Crusaders.

The Carrick frontman applied the finishing touch to Paul Heatley's delivery and has now racked up 40 goals in 90 appearances for the side.

The victory secured manager Stephen Baxter's first back-to-back league wins in charge of the east Antrim club on a playing surface which he described to listeners of Radio Ulster's Sportsound as "lively and bumpy".

"I'm very pleased to get off to the start we have but it's very early days. We have a new squad and it takes time to get them playing the way we want them to," said Baxter, whose team only retained their Premiership status via the end-of-season play-off in May.

When asked if he was concerned that his side's early momentum may suffer from the postponement of Tuesday's scheduled league meeting with Linfield, the former Crusaders manager explained that he was happy with the fixture being delayed as his players "needed a rest".

Glenavon, meanwhile, travel to Glentoran in midweek still searching for their first point of the new campaign.

Dungannon indiscipline...and more Gibson goals

Rodney McAree's Irish Cup winners have lost their opening two games

Dungannon's disappointing start to the campaign continued as they went down to a comprehensive 4-1 defeat by Portadown.

The Shamrock Reds took significant early steps towards clinching their first points of the new season by moving 2-0 ahead and, despite Sean McAllister pulling one back from the penalty spot, late second-half goals from new signing Jordan Gibson ensured the win for Niall Currie's side.

The Swifts' cause was not helped by the dismissal of skipper Gael Bigirimana for a high challenge on Eamon Fyfe late in the first half followed by substitute Leo Alves receiving a red card for two bookable offences in quick succession.

Two losses and seven goals conceded, with just one goal, a spot-kick, scored, does not represent the start manager Rodney McAree will have been looking for as he sets out to build on the Irish Cup success, fourth-place league finish and European qualification that his team achieved last season.

'1-0 to the Glentoran...'

New signing Ryan Cooney opened his account for Glentoran

Successive 1-0 triumphs in their opening two matches of the season is hardly enough to see Glentoran labelled with the terrace chant associated with the efficient Arsenal side who picked up the knack of winning games by the single-goal scoreline in the 1990s.

However, everyone associated with the Oval outfit will take those opening 1-0 wins over Portadown and Bangor very nicely as a potential springboard towards building a Premiership title challenge.

Having won just nine of their previous 24 home league games prior to beating the Seasiders, manager Declan Devine will hope that Saturday's victory at the Oval, courtesy of a goal from recent acquisition Ryan Cooney, will also provide a platform for improved results on their home patch in the top tier this term.

After the match, Devine told Sportsound listeners that he was "pleased with a lot of the football his side played" and "there were a lot of good individual performances".

The Glens boss pronounced himself particularly happy with the displays of two of his other summer signings - Jordan Stewart and substitute Liam Burt - who made a positive impact off the bench after overcoming a long-term hip injury.

For Bangor's part, they defended resolutely for much of the game, but Kyle Owens' error when misplacing an attempted back-pass proved decisive and provided a stark reminder for the Seasiders, if one were required, of how mistakes are ruthlessly punished in the top division, following their curtain-raising 3-1 win over Cliftonville last weekend.