Six-goal thriller at Oval and Swifts defeat Reds

Marcus Kane and Christopher Atherton challenge for possession at the Oval

Glentoran and Glenavon took a point apiece from a six-goal Irish Premiership thriller at the Oval on Wednesday night as the game ended 3-3.

Goals from Michael O'Connor and Harry Lynch had the visitors 2-0 ahead at the break but a Joe Thomson strike and a double from Jordan Jenkins saw the hosts move 3-2 ahead.

Paul McGovern grabbed a leveller in the exciting encounter but the draw sees second-placed Glentoran sit three points clear of Larne in the battle for the runner-up spot which would guarantee European football.

Meanwhile Dungannon Swifts ran out 2-0 victors over Cliftonville at Solitude courtesy of James Knowles' free-kick and a John McGovern goal.

The win consolidates Swifts' place in the top half of the table as they lie fourth and still in the hunt for that coveted second position.

Goals aplenty at Oval

The away side started brightly at the Oval, taking the lead on 12 minutes when an impressive cross-field pass from Sean Carlin found Peter Campbell on the left wing, whose cross into the box was fired home by O'Connor from close range.

Glenavon doubled their lead just before the half-hour mark when Lynch reacted quickest and nodded home Campbell's curling free-kick.

It was nearly 3-0 when David Toure weaved his way around multiple Glentoran shirts and travelled into the penalty area, but he sent his effort a whisker wide of the left-hand post.

Joe Thomson tried to get Glentoran a goal back before the break with his effort well over the crossbar, to the frustration of the home fans.

After the restart, Daniel Gyollai made a low save to deny Campbell's shot before Jack Malone sent his effort narrowly off target.

Glentoran halved the deficit in the 53rd minute after Mark Byrne had originally gathered David Fisher's header, but spilt the ball and Thomson making no mistake from close range.

They levelled the game when Thomson took advantage of a slack pass in midfield and found Jenkins, whose strong strike flew into the top corner.

Glentoran took the lead when Thomson's free-kick was nodded onto the inside of the left post by Marcus Kane with the ball trickling along the line and Jenkins able to tap home the rebound.

The goals weren't finished though with substitute McGovern's strike from the edge of the box pinging off the left hand post and finding the back of the net.

In additional time both sides had chances with O'Connor unable to keep his effort on target after clever build-up play from Davy McDaid before Thomson saw his strike deflected wide.

Swifts bag win at Solitude

James Knowles broke the deadlock in style against his former club at Solitude, curling a sublime 52nd-minute free-kick from the edge of the area into the bottom corner.

The Swifts pressed home their advantage just after the hour mark, with John McGovern delivering a towering header from Leo Alves's pinpoint corner to firmly put Rodney McAree's side in control.

The home side had started brightly in what was a closely contested first half and looked the more likely to open the scoring. Rory Hale pounced on a careless Danny Wallace pass after just nine minutes, sliding a perfectly weighted through ball to Joe Gormley. The striker, however, was denied by a superb low save from Alex Henderson.

Henderson's alertness was on display again moments later, darting off his line to smother Ryan Corrigan after Axel Piesold's clever pass split the defence.

Despite creating further chances through Michael Glynn, the hosts couldn't capitalise, while Dungannon will have felt hard done by when Tomas Galvin's 28th-minute tap-in was ruled out for offside.

After the break, Cliftonville struggled to find their rhythm, seemingly fatigued after last weekend's draining BetMcLean Cup final and their misery was compounded when Jim Magilton was sent off midway through the second half.