It has been a scrappy opening quarter of an hour here and I would imagine both managers will want more from their teams in the attacking third.

Now it's Cliftonville who look the more threatening as they earn five corners in quick succession, causing unrest in the Linfield penalty area.

The pressure eventually comes to an end as Taylor Steven's shot goes wide.

Luke Cartwright blocks Andrew Mitchell's effort after John McGovern had played the ball back into the path of the striker.

McGovern has been heavily involved so far when Dungannon push forward.

Jamie Rea sends a low delivery into the box which Gael Bigrimana does well to clear before any of the onrushing Loughgall players can gain possession.

Bright start to this game.

Joe Gormley shows some neat footwork as he looks to get a shot away just inside the area.

His effort is blocked and diverted for a corner, which comes to nothing as Linfield clear their lines.

No chances of note for either side so far, but the Blues have been enjoying the majority of the ball.

Kieran Offord gets in behind the Ballymena defence and tries to beat keeper Sean O'Neill at his near post but the shot cannons off the base of the post and out for a goal kick.

The hosts have had the better of the opening seven minutes without testing Ross Glendinning. They will be hoping for more clear-cut chances going forward as Len O'Sullivan's inviting ball flashes across the face of goal.

The wet conditions are lending themselves to it, of course, but there are some tasty challenges going in here from both teams in the opening minutes.

The man in the middle could be in for a busy afternoon.

The first chance falls to Ballymena as Daithi McCallion's long ball forward isn't dealt with by Lewis Barr with the ball dropping over his shoulder.

Ben Kennedy nips in behind to bear down on goal but his shot is blocked by the chest of keeper Jonny Tuffey.

The rain has started to pour here as Dungannon have the first chance of the game.

John McGovern bursts through midfield before sending a strike towards goal which proves a comfortable save for Nathan Gartside.

Less than a minute on the clock and we have our first booking as Fuad Sule goes into referee Jamie Robinson's notebook for a pull back on Jamie Glackin.

The Glentoran midfielder will have to watch his step now for, precisely, 89 minutes.

Carrick get us underway on Declan Hassan's whistle in their white and grey change strip kicking left to right.

David Fisher gets us underway at a very damp Showgrounds.

Glentoran are unbeaten in their last five, Coleraine just one win in five.

Will the form line continue this afternoon or can the home side continue their recent good form against the Glens?

Conor McCloskey gets the action underway at Stangmore Park.

Loughgall have lost their last eight league games - can they end this run today or will the home side be the victors?

Referee Ross Dunlop starts the action at an overcast Seaview.

Crusaders have very much had the upper hand in recent meetings between these sides with Ballymena having won only two of the previous 14 league encounters.

Can the Sky Blues alter that statistic today?

Joe Gormley kicks proceedings off at Windsor Park for the visitors.

How will this one go?

Larne boss Tiernan Lynch was left "disappointed and frustrated" after watching his team slip to a 4-1 defeat by Shamrock Rovers in the Uefa Conference League game at Windsor Park.

"I'm disappointed and frustrated - we conceded really stupid goals at really bad times," said Lynch.

"We got hit by a sucker-punch very early. The one thing you can't do is let Rovers get into a rhythm and we got punished for that.

"We knew how good a team Rovers are and how many good individuals they have," Lynch said.

"We just didn't do the things that we worked so hard to make sure we carried out and got punished badly."

Read more here

Image source, Getty Images

Larne went down to a 4-1 defeat by Shamrock Rovers in the north v south Uefa Conference League game at Windsor Park on Thursday night.

It was a harsh lesson for the Premiership champion, who were behind after just three minutes after Josh Honohan netted.

Johnny Kenny doubled the lead and a Tomas Cosgrove won goal left the Dublin side 3-0 up at the break.

Chris Gallagher sent a crisp strike into the bottom corner to give Larne hope before the oustanding Graham Burke sealed victory for Rovers.

Report: Rovers ease to Conference League win over Larne

Image source, Getty Images

Portadown forward Ahu Obhakhan says the physical part of his game has improved since he began playing in Irish Premiership following his summer move.

The former Drogheda and Institute player has scored four league goals to date to help the Ports win four and draw three of their top flight matches since being promoted as Championship winners.

"The physical part of my game probably wasn't the strongest part of my game until I came up here," said the 27-year-old.

"Some games it's a fight up there so it's just being in the right mindset to hold up the ball, take some hits and then sometimes leave a little something back as well.

"I'd say the best part of my game is linking up the play, bringing wingers into the game so if I can dominate the centre-backs I can start to do that. To get to that point you have to be physical."

Read more of what Abu Obhakhan had to say here.

Image source, Abu Obhakhan