Larne's James Simpson attempts to burst past Patrick McEleney, who upends him with a fairly blatant body-check.

Despite howls from the home fans, referee Christopher Morrison sees no reason to reach for his pocket.

James Teelan tries to link up with new signing Reece Annett on the left wing, but Kurtis Forsythe thwarts the chance.

Both sides have struggled to get the ball into the final third in the opening five minutes.

Ahu Obhakhan gets the action under way at Shamrock Park.

Can Portadown end their run of two defeats in a row or will the away side register their second victory of the season?

Referee Christopher Morrison gets the ball rolling at a raucous Inver Park.

There's a proper 'derby' feel to this meeting of two rival clubs separated by Shane's Hill.

Linfield manager David Healy lamented his side's "worst performance out of the four games" against Shelbourne as his side exited the Uefa Conference League at the play-off stage.

The Irish Premiership champions lost 2-1 on aggregate to the League of Ireland holders in their Champions League first round qualifier in July and a 2-0 second-leg defeat at Windsor Park on Thursday night saw them go down 5-1 on aggregate to the Dublin side in Europe's third tier competition.

First-half goals from Harry Wood and Ali Coote sealed Linfield's fate in Belfast.

"Disappointing. I talked before the game about how important it was that we got the first goal. We didn't look like that tonight," Healy told BBC Sport NI after the game.

"More frustrating is the manner that we conceded the [first] goal. We were aware of Harry Wood's movement. It's not as if we were going into the game blind. We were fully aware of his capabilities, his runs.

"You can probably look at it from a Shelbourne point of view and say it was a wonderful pass and a wonderful finish, which it probably was, but from our point of view we were well aware of that run and ball.

"We had seen it in the three games previously and we didn't deal with it tonight. Tonight was our worst performance out of the four games that we played but it was at the most crucial point. That's frustrating."

Healy added that despite the tie being over as a contest by half-time he was pleased with how his players responded in the second period.

"The most important thing for me tonight is that we didn't fall apart in the second half.

"Going forward we got some of the younger players some more European experience which will benefit them long term.

"We all feel disappointed that we haven't grasped the opportunity but we'll respond in a positive manner like we always do and we'll try and put our best foot forward in the cup competitions and most importantly, our bread and butter, in our domestic league, where we feel we are more than a match for anyone."

Read more from Healy and Shels boss Joey O'Brien here.

Watch highlights as Larne beat Portadown 4-0 in the Irish Premiership to pick up their first win of the season.

Ballymena boss Jim Ervin says that his side will be wary of the threat Larne pose following their ruthless display against Portadown.

"It is a difficult game away from home, they had a really convincing win against Portadown. We know how difficult that is because Portadown are a solid team," he said.

"We know what to expect at Inver. It is going to be a huge game and hopefully a good atmosphere. Hopefully our fans can get down in numbers and give the boys the backing they need."

Image source, Inpho

Watch highlights as Glentoran continue their winning start to the season by beating Crusaders 2-0 in the Irish Premiership.

Both sides come into this eagerly-anticipated 'derby' on the back of impressive 4-0 wins last weekend.

Larne head coach Gary Haveron gives the thumbs-up to the same starting XI which brushed Portadown aside seven days ago.

Conor McKendry has completed his suspension meted out following the infamous brawl against Glentoran on the final day of last season and is named among the subs, as is Dan Bent, who has served a one-match ban after his recent dismissal against Cliftonville.

After naming an unchanged panel of 18 players for Ballymena's opening three games, United boss Jim Ervin is forced into a change in personnel for the first time this season as Aaron Jarvis replaces the injured Donal Rocks in midfield, with Danny Lafferty taking Jarvis' place on the bench.

Larne: Ferguson, Cosgrove, Ridley, Nolan, S Graham, Gallagher, Randall, Simpson, O'Connor, Magee, Lusty.

Subs: D Graham, McKendry, Bent, Moore, Harkin, Hastings, Wallace.

Ballymena United: O'Neill, Toure, Gould, O'Donnell, Clarke, Thompson, Jarvis, McEleney, Corbally, Kennedy, McCurry.

Subs: Breen, Nelson, Lafferty, O'Connor, O'Reilly, Edogun, McCallion.

Image source, BBC Sport

Larne boss Gary Haveron said their home game against Ballymena United on Friday night will be a "tough challenge".

The Sky Blues make the trip to Inver Park in good form after recording three wins from their opening three games for the first time since 1952.

Haveron hopes that his side, who beat Portadown 4-0 last Friday for their first league win, will have benefited from a longer than usual rest period ahead of the game.

"It'll be a tough challenge; they have started the season really well and on the front foot. They're a big, strong, physical team so we'll prepare the best we can," he told BBC Sport NI.

"This is the first time in a long time we have the chance to recover this long, so the boys had some days off before we began to prepare on Monday."

Image source, Inpho

Niall Currie makes two changes to the side who were comfortably defeated by Larne with captain Gary Thompson and starting debutant Rhys Annett replacing Josh Ukek and Eamon Fyfe.

There are also two alterations to the Crusaders starting XI who lost against Glentoran last weekend.

Evan Easton is handed his debut and starts as well as Brendan Hamilton with Finley Thorndike and captain Jarlath O'Rourke missing out due to injury.

Portadown: McCarey, Isamala, Altintop, MacKinnon, Chapman, McCullough, Thompson, Annett, Wylie, Teelan, Obhakhan.

Subs: Moore, Rea, Wilson, Mayse, Gibson, Fyfe, McCartan.

Crusaders: Tuffey, K Forsythe, Easton, Hamilton, Anderson, Barr, Weir, J Forsythe, Dunlop, Brooks, Bryden.

Subs: Dibaga, McKechnie, Williamson, McCart, Nixon, Clarke, Boyd.

Image source, BBC Sport

Crusaders boss Declan Caddell says his side need to "stamp down" on the number of goals they are conceding.

The Crues have shipped seven goals in their first three league games - losses against Carrick Rangers and Glentoran and a win against Bangor.

Ahead of Friday night's trip to Shamrock Park to face Portadown, Caddell has urged his side to be more defensively solid, and to that end has added further to the Scottish contingent at the Seaview club by securing the services of defender Evan Easton on a season-long loan deal from Sheffield United.

Easton, who was part of the youth ranks at Celtic, joins fellow Scots Fraser Bryden, Elliot Dunlop, Adam Brooks, Jacob Blaney and Kieran McKechnie in joining the ranks at the north Belfast club.

The 20-year-old joined the Blades in 2023 and featured for the club's U21s last season, scoring four league goals.

"We're conceding too many goals over the three games so far, that is something we have to stamp down on," Crues boss Caddell told BBC Sport NI.

"There is a lot of homework for us to do on how we shut the back door as it hasn't been good enough the past three games and looking at going forward, how we can hurt them."

Caddell has called for patience with his new-look side and believes there have been signs that they are on the right track.

"This is a completely new team, there is a still a lot of learning to be done and things to work on," he added.

"It will take us a while to click and gel, you have seen bits and pieces, but we haven't done it over 90 minutes yet and it is about those finer details."

Image source, Inpho

Gameweek four of the Irish Premiership took place over a full weekend and brought plenty of goals across the six games, including a late winner, and more red card controversy.

Glentoran remain top of the table after a fourth successive victory whilst Ballymena United, Carrick Rangers and Linfield extended their winning runs.

Coleraine remain unbeaten and Larne picked up a first win of the campaign but Glenavon, Dungannon Swifts and Cliftonville are all still hunting for their first three points after disappointing defeats.

Ahead of tonight's action, relive some of the big talking points from the last set of games here.

Image source, Inpho

Hello and welcome to our coverage of tonight's two Irish Premiership games.

Larne host Ballymena United at Inver Park, with the hosts aiming to build on their first win of the season last week and the Sky Blues hoping to extend their winning start to the campaign.

At Shamrock Park, Portadown and Crusaders will both hope to bounce back from defeats last weekend as they meet in the other Friday night fixture.

We will have live text commentary and in-play clips from both games.

Enjoy!

Image source, Pacemaker Press