Glentoran missed out on the chance to open up a six-point lead at the top of the Irish Premiership table after playing out an enthralling 1-1 draw with rivals Linfield at the Oval.

Declan Devine's side went ahead on 21 minutes as Pat Hoban kept his cool from the penalty spot following Kirk Millar's foul on James Singleton.

Linfield responded on 62 minutes, also from the spot, as Chris Shields fired home after Marcus Kane brought down Matthew Fitzpatrick.

Both sides maintain their respective unbeaten starts to the season, with the Blues holding three games in hand over the Glens.

Linfield made a bright start to the game and in the first minute, as Kieran Offord forced Alex Mills into a low save.

Four minutes later, Fitzpatrick had his head in his hands as he swept wide after being gifted possession by a wayward back pass from Kane.

The momentum of the game shifted on 20 minutes as referee Ben McMaster awarded a penalty as he deemed Millar clipped Singleton.

Hoban stepped up and sent Chris Johns the wrong way to open the scoring against the run of play.

The Blues were handed a route back into the game just after the hour mark as Kane dragged down Fitzpatrick, with McMaster pointing to the spot after consulting with the linesman.

Shields stepped up and fired home to level, but it was end-to-end for the remainder of the game with both sides forced to settle for a point.

That was despite Sean Brown smashing the crossbar for the Blues and Jordan Jenkins firing over for the Glens in injury-time.

The Glens not only had an unbeaten start to the season to preserve, but also a great home record against Linfield heading into Friday's 'Big Two' meeting.

They had not lost to their rivals at home in the last five meetings, winning three and drawing the other two.

Yet, for a side that had also won five of their six league games and conceded only one goal so far this campaign, it was a shaky start from the league leaders, who looked nervous and failed to get out of their own half in the first 15 minutes.

They were fortunate that the Blues spurned three massive opportunities, particularly the Fitzpatrick chance, which Kane gifted to the striker with a careless pass.

However, they rode the storm, grew into the game after Hoban's opener and then dug in to earn a valuable point in a chaotic second half.

Hoban was a high-profile addition in the summer from Derry City, one that boss Declan Devine hoped would help ease the scoring burden on Jenkins.

After injury ruled him out of the first few games of the season, he has hit the ground running with two goals in two league games, showing great composure to roll home from the spot.

It is still early days, but Glentoran have certainly shown that they can be genuine title contenders with their early-season results and performances.

Linfield had to wait until the fifth and final 'Big Two' meeting of the 2024-25 season to finally claim a win against the Glens, but while they showed much more here, they lacked a clinical edge to claim a first win in east Belfast since 2022.

David Healy, who previously lamented how wasteful Linfield were in their European games against Shelbourne, will have similar frustrations leaving the Oval tonight.

They had three golden chances in the first eight minutes after a fast-paced start had silenced the vocal home crowd.

Offord was unlucky with his two efforts and was a livewire throughout, but Fitzpatrick really should have scored after Kane's wayward back pass fell kindly for him in the box when the game was still goalless.

The penalty they conceded was unfortunate, but they did well to bounce back in the second half, with Chris Shields showing composure to end Linfield's recent woes from the spot.

As they proved last year when they finished 24 points clear of the Glens as they strolled to the Gibson Cup, Linfield do not necessarily have to win these sorts of games to be successful, but it will feel like one that got away given the opportunities they created, especially with Brown rattling the crossbar late on.

Glentoran's next game in their tough run of fixtures sees them travel to face in-form Coleraine on Friday, 19 September.

That game will be live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website.

Linfield are back in action on Tuesday, 16 September away to Ballymena United in the first of their rearranged fixtures due to their European commitments.

That game will be live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website.