Irish Premiership: Glenavon 2-0 Carrick Rangers

Glenavon moved up to fourth in the table after two second-half Daniel Kearns goals earned a home victory over Carrick Rangers.

After an uneventful first half, Kearns tucked away a 55th-minute penalty after Rhys Marshall was brought down in the area by Joe McNeill.

Kearns finished off the move of the match to make it 2-0 on 74 minutes.

Joel Cooper beat his man on the left before delivering the pass for former Peterborough midfielder Kearns.

The victory, Glenavon's fourth from their last five league games, takes the Mourneview men up to fourth in the Irish Premiership table.

Carrick have not won a league match since their 3-1 success at Ballinamallard on 12 September.

What they said

Carrick Rangers manager Gary Haveron: "The penalty was the turning point and it is the story of our season so far.

"At half-time I felt the only way they would score was through a mistake by us and that is exactly what happened.

"Up to that point we had been disciplined and well-drilled. Neither side had created much.

"You cannot keep giving things away for free in this league."

Glenavon striker Eoin Bradley: "It was tough in the first half to break them down, but we played some good stuff in the second half.

"It was a bad night and in those conditions we are just glad to get the three points."