Two sent-off as Glens draw with leaders Linfield

Glentoran's James Singleton and Chris Shields of Linfield in action at the Oval on Boxing Day

Irish Premiership leaders Linfield drew 0-0 with Glentoran at the Oval on Boxing Day in a match which saw both players end the game with 10 men.

The Glens had the better of the chances and in the second half Blues defender Sam Roscoe and Glens skipper Marcus Kane were dismissed separately for two bookable offences.

Linfield's lead at the top is reduced to 12 points as Dungannon Swifts moved into second with a 2-1 home win over Loughgall.

Peter Campbell's goal and Niall Quinn's strike in the final minute gave Glenavon a 2-0 victory over Portadown in the mid-Ulster derby at Mourneview Park, Ports goalkeeper Aaron McCarey being sent-off late in the game.

Kieran Offord's double salvo early in the second half saw Crusaders defeat Cliftonville 2-0 at Seaview while Coleraine came from two goals down at half-time to earn a 2-2 draw with Ballymena United at Ballycastle Road.

Larne were held to a 0-0 draw by Carrick Rangers in the sides' first meeting of the season.

Drama-filled deadlock at Oval

Glentoran had the better of the first half and looked the more likely to break the deadlock.

The best chance of the first 45 minutes fell to Jordan Jenkins, who lifted the ball over the onrushing David Walsh, but couldn't keep his effort on target.

Walsh then denied Jenkins right at the end of the half with an outstretched right leg, with Stephen Fallon coming closest to breaking the deadlock for the Blues in the second half as he struck the crossbar with a header on the hour mark.

Linfield goalkeeper David Walsh then looked fortunate to escape with a yellow card from referee Shane Andrews when he brought down Jenkins outside the area.

With 20 minutes left on the clock, the Blues were reduced to 10 men as Roscoe was sent his marching orders for a coming together with David Fisher.

The Glens were then reduced to 10-men too as captain Kane was shown a second yellow card for pulling Joel Cooper to ground.

Crues take north Belfast derby spoils

The best chance of the first half at Seaview came five minutes before the break when Jarlath O'Rourke's cutback was scuffed wide by Jordan Stewart.

Less than two minutes after the restart, Stewart rattled the bar from all of 30 yards but Kieran Offord was there to sweep home the rebound with Lewis Ridd still on the ground.

Offord notched his second just three minutes later as his diving header from Ross Clarke's cross was well saved by Ridd but there was nothing he could do as Harry Jewitt-White recovered possession and picked out Offord to nod home at the back post.

Cliftonville did go on the attack and had a spell of pressure but could not breach the goal as Joe Gormley and Rory Hale came close while sub Ryan Corrigan somehow couldn't force the ball in from almost under the crossbar after a Michael Newberry nod down.

Clarke forced a good save from Ridd while Ronan Doherty should have done better in stoppage time but it was Crusaders' day as Declan Caddell won his first derby as Crues manager.

Glenavon get the better of Ports

It was a dominant first half display from Glenavon at Mourneview and the unmarked Peter Campbell connected with Chris Atherton's pass, but his effort was blocked.

The deadlock was broken by the hosts just before the 30-minute-mark when Len O'Sullivan played the ball back for the onrushing Campbell, who slotted into the bottom corner and past the outstretched McCarey.

Paddy McLaughlin's side believed they should have had a penalty in the 37th minute when a corner was headed off the line by Dougie Wilson with the Glenavon fans and players appealing that the ball had struck the hand of Steven McCullough.

Portadown started to enjoy more possession in the second half but it was the home side who thought they had scored another goal when Atherton's delivery was headed home by Michael O'Connor but the linesman's flag shot up as the striker was offside.

Things went from bad to worse for the away side when stopper McCarey was shown a straight red card after the Portadown stopper had rushed out of the box to try to deny O'Connor, who was through on goal.

It was 2-0 in style through the resulting free-kick with Quinn's set-piece crashing off the woodwork before finding the back of the net.

Honours shared in hard-fought tussle

Coleraine fought back from two goals down at half-time to claim a share of the spoils in an action-packed derby at the Showgrounds.

Ethan Devine scored twice in the opening 45 minutes to have Jim Ervin's side firmly in charge at the break but Cameron Stewart and Matthew Shevlin ensured a point for the hosts.

Devine broke the deadlock just after the half hour when he managed to find space in the six yard box to head home an Alex Gawne cross from the right.

And the same pair were at it again in added time at the end of the first half to double the visitors' lead. Again, Gawne found space on the right wing to deliver a cross, this time low into the heart of the Coleraine penalty area.

Devine, with his back to goal, cleverly back heeled the ball past a helpless Rory Brown for his second of the afternoon.

The hosts pulled a goal back nine minutes after the restart as defender Stewart outjumped the Ballymena defence to head home Jamie Glackin's corner.

And the sides were level midway through the second half when Shevlin held his nerve to score his 14th of the season from the spot after Ballymena had been penalised for handball inside the area.

The hosts pressed for a winner in the closing stages but could find no way past an inspired Sean O'Neill in the visitors' goal.

Swifts win to move into second

It was a deserved three points for Dungannon at Stangmore Park, despite the home side needing to see off a late surge from Loughgall.

Swifts captain Dean Curry opened the scoring inside 20 minutes from what was Dungannon's fifth corner of the game at that point.

Ladislau Leo Ucha Alves picked out Curry with a superb cross and Curry rose above the Loughgall defence to send the ball into the far corner of the net and beyond goalkeeper Nathan Gartside.

In the second half, John McGovern doubled the hosts' lead with a calmly taken goal on the 66th minute.

McGovern latched onto a great long ball from Adam Glenny and took his time to coolly slot the ball beyond Gartside and into the far bottom corner of the goal.

That looked to be that, until Loughgall's Jay Boyd rose high at the near post to send a powerful header beyond Declan Dunne.

Minutes later, the visitors came close to grabbing an equaliser but Lewis Francis screwed his header wide of the post.

And deep into injury time and with Loughgall chasing a second goal, Dungannon raced down the field and Kealan Dillon squared the ball for Steven Scott, but with the goal at his mercy, Scott crashed the ball off the crossbar.

Disallowed goals thwart Larne

The first chance of the game at Inver Park fell to Larne when Matty Lusty dispossessed Luke McCullough as the pair chased a long ball but the forward couldn't lift his attempted lob over advancing keeper Ross Glendinning.

Larne believed they had opened the scoring just short of the half-hour mark when Cian Bolger headed home at the back post from a Mark Randall corner but referee Ian McNabb disallowed the effort after his assistant had flagged for an offence.

The same assistant also ruled out a second Larne goal a few minutes later with Lusty adjudged to be offside when he netted the rebound after Andy Ryan's shot had been blocked by the legs of Glendinning.

Danny Gibson saw a shot beaten away at the near post by Larne keeper Rohan Ferguson while Larne saw second-half penalty appeals waved away after Lusty's cross bounced off the foot of Seanan Clucas before striking the midfielder's arm.

The home side came close on 67 minutes when defender Aaron Donnelly's long-range strike crashed off the underside of the bar with Andy Ryan firing the rebound wide of the target.

At the other end, Carrick's Seanan Clucas burst into the penalty area but opted to square the ball rather than shoot, while Larne sub Conor McKendry forced a save from Glendinning.

There was still time for a third Larne goal to be ruled out after Andy Ryan was adjudged to be offside after bundling home a shot from close range.