Co Antrim Shield: Crusaders, Reds, Bangor and Ards into semis

Crusaders, Cliftonville, Bangor and Ards progressed to the semi-finals of the County Antrim Shield after a thrilling night of action.

Two goals by Declan Caddell helped the Crues come back from 2-0 down to beat holders Linfield 4-2 at Windsor Park.

David McDaid hit an injury-time winner for Cliftonville as they beat Ballymena 4-3 in another exciting contest.

Bangor shocked Glentoran 2-1 at the Oval while Ards progressed to the last four with a 2-0 win over Newington YC.

Linfield looked in control after goals from Sammy Morrow and Andrew Waterworth put them 2-0 up after 27 minutes against the Crues.

But a mistake by Blues keeper Jonathan Tuffey on 41 minutes when he dropped a cross allowed Jordan Owens to pull back a goal for the Crues.

While Kirk Millar and Waterworth did miss Linfield chances in the second half, the Blues became increasingly nervous as the introduction of Paul Heatley revitalised the Crues.

Caddell levelled the contest on 70 minutes before putting the visitors ahead five minutes later.

As Linfield chased an equaliser in the closing stages, Gavin Whyte sealed Crusaders's win a minute from time with a firm header.

Crusaders's win did come at a cross as Josh Robinson was carried off with what manager Stephen Baxter described as a serious hamstring injury which could keep the player out for up to three months.

The game at Solitude had even more excitement as Cliftonville came from a goal down to lead 3-1, only to be pegged back to 3-3, before McDaid's last-gasp winner.

Darren Boyce put Ballymena ahead as he brilliantly lobbed Conor Devlin from all of 35 yards in the 10th minute.

George McMullan levelled from a controversial penalty on 36 minutes with Ballymena's players and manager Glenn Ferguson insisting that James Knowles had been legitimately tackled in the area.

Allan Jenkins and Tiaran McMulvenna missed chances at either end before the break but Cliftonville then appeared to be in control after 50 and 59th-minute goals from Stephen Garrett and Martin Murray.

However, Jenkins immediately pulled a goal back for the Braidmen and they got on terms in the closing seconds of normal time when Ally Teggart blasted past Conor Devlin after intense pressure.

The equaliser came after Ballymena's Aaron Stewart had been harshly sent off following his second yellow card for a clash of heads with Garrett.

After Teggart's equaliser, Boyce and David Cushley wasted glorious chances to seal a famous Ballymena win early in injury-time before Reds sub McDaid curled in a glorious winner in the fifth minute of added time.

Shock of the night came at the Oval as Bangor earned a deserved 2-1 victory over a lethargic Glentoran outfit.

A bad mistake by Glens keeper Aaron Hogg gifted Bangor their opening goal on 40 minutes as he allowed William McBurney's relatively tame free-kick to go through his legs.

Jim O'Hanlon levelled on 48 minutes with a goal which looked to have more than a hint of offside about it but Dean Youle nodded Bangor's winner 14 minutes from time.

Bangor's North Down neighbours Ards also progressed to the last four thanks to Neil Dougan's sixth-minute strike and Stephen Hislop's 51st-minute effort against Newington YC.

Newington keeper Dean Smyth saved Josh Colquhoun's 40th-minute penalty and made several other great saves as Ards dominated the contest.

Toal's County Antrim Shield quarter-finals

Linfield 2-4 Crusaders

Cliftonville 4-3 Ballymena Utd

Glentoran 1-2 Bangor

Ards 2-0 Newingtown YC