Late postponement, Solitude drama & worry for Glenavon - Premiership takeaways

Baris Altintop celebrates Portadown's late win against Cliftonville

It was another busy weekend of action in the Irish Premiership that produced plenty of goals and some late drama.

Whilst all 12 teams were set to be in action across the weekend, leaders Glentoran had their home game against Larne postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

That allowed challengers Coleraine and Linfield to close the gap at the top with their wins over Carrick Rangers and Bangor respectively.

Elsewhere, Portadown struck late to pick up a rare win at Solitude over Cliftonville, Crusaders beat struggling Glenavon and Dungannon Swifts eased past Ballymena United.

BBC Sport NI looks at some of the talking points from the latest round of action.

Late postponement at the Oval

The game at the Oval was postponed less than an hour before kick-off

It was a miserable early Saturday afternoon weather wise in Belfast, so much so that a heavy downpour caused the first Irish Premiership postponement of the season due to a waterlogged pitch.

That came at the Oval as leaders Glentoran's intriguing encounter against second place Larne was called off less than an hour before kick-off.

Some supporters were already in the stadium, the teams had been announced, and the goalkeepers had been out to do their warm-ups, with people taking to social media to vent their frustrations at the late nature of the postponement.

Whilst disappointed given they wanted to try and continue their unbeaten start to the season, Glentoran boss Declan Devine acknowledged it was the "right call".

Larne boss Gary Haveron, who has guided his side to five straight league wins agreed that one part of the surface was not playable.

He was also frustrated the game could not go ahead, but it gives the likes of Aaron Donnelly and Leroy Millar the chance to continue to build up their fitness in training as both were set to be named on the bench for the top-of-the-table encounter for the first time this season.

With both teams still in the various cup competitions, it remains to be seen when the rearranged game will be slotted in.

Ports leave it late to pick up rare Solitude win

With the game at the Oval called off, Devine raced to north Belfast to watch Glentoran's next opponents Cliftonville, who were taking on Portadown at Solitude.

He certainly got his money's worth, with two goals in injury-time and some unsavoury scenes leading to three red cards brandished before the final whistle.

Portadown had not won at Solitude since January 2014, but when Eamon Fyfe finished off a quick counter attack on 64 minutes, they looked set to take home a much-needed three points.

Cliftonville, who had performed poorly again, looked like they had nicked a point when Odhran Casey rose highest to meet a pinpoint Jack Keaney cross on 90 minutes.

But they shot themselves in the foot six minutes into injury-time as they were once again caught on the counter attack, with Casey surrendering possession before James Teelan was released to finish coolly and seal a first Ports win in 11 years at the venue.

The late winner led to tempers flaring from both benches as Gerard Lyttle, midfielder Ben Wylie and a member of the Portadown coaching staff were all sent off.

Inconsistency plagued Cliftonville last year as they missed out on a place in the top six and it looks like that theme has continued into this year as after three wins on the spin, they have now suffered back-to-back losses.

As for Portadown, that was a big win that ended a run of three straight losses and gives them a nine-point buffer over their rivals and bottom side Glenavon, who they face next.

Doom and gloom for Glenavon

Is time running out for Paddy McLaughlin to save what looks like a sinking ship at Glenavon?

Saturday's 2-0 loss against Crusaders was their ninth straight league defeat to start the season.

They are the first team to lose their first nine games since Ards in the 2005-06 season.

The result has left them rooted to the foot of the table and already nine points behind the likes of Portadown and Bangor above them.

It is hard to see them clawing it back at this early stage, even though they did have a poor start last year and go on a run which could propel them up the table.

They once again looked toothless going forward as they failed to score for the seventh time this season.

The Lurgan Blues are missing the creative spark of the injured Peter Campbell, but, given the investment made in the squad in the summer, they should have enough quality not to be in such a precarious position.

Next weekend's Lurgan derby away to Portadown is already must-win at this stage of the season as they look to halt an alarming slide and potentially keep McLaughlin in a job

Coleraine back to winning ways

Cooper's fifth league goal of the season helped Coleraine beat Carrick Rangers

The hallmark of a title winning side is responding well to a rare off day and defeat.

Coleraine did that this weekend, even if they did not perform at their best, they still found a way to grind out a win.

After suffering a 2-1 loss against Glentoran last week, they came from behind to beat a well-structured Carrick Rangers side 2-1 on Saturday.

Youngster Zane Okoro scored his first goal for the club and the on-loan Lincoln City teenager proved to be a real livewire at the Showgrounds.

Then Joel Cooper, who had been on the periphery for the majority of the game, did what he does best, popped up with a crucial goal to help Coleraine take home all three points.

That helped Ruaidhri Higgins side move a point behind leaders Glentoran and, on paper, their next five fixtures are fairly kind, which may allow them to gain further ground in the title race.

Have Swifts turned a corner?

It was a really tough start to the league campaign for Dungannon Swifts, but they have now won back-to-back games for the first time this campaign and Rodney McAree will hope his side have finally turned a corner.

Backing up last weekend's hard-fought 2-1 win against Cliftonville, the Swifts had a more comfortable afternoon at the Ballymena Showgrounds as they won 2-0.

A fine strike from Bobby-Jack McAleese and an own goal from Kym Nelson helped them to victory, with Junior squandering the chance to add further gloss to the scoreline as he missed a penalty.

Three victories in their last four games and some better displays bar the blip at Crusaders, will give Swifts fans cause for optimism, especially given other sides around them have also lacked consistency so far.

Next Saturday's home game against high-flying Larne will the real test to see if McAree's side can replicate last season's heroics when they went toe to toe regularly with the bigger sides.