Irish League Football

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Larne will aim to remain on target for a first BetMcLean Cup success when they host Cliftonville in Tuesday's semi-final of the competition at Inver Park.

The east Antrim club's dramatic renaissance of recent seasons has seen them collect back-to-back league titles, win four County Antrim Shield finals in a row and break new ground for the Irish League by qualifying for the league stages of the Uefa Conference League.

Victories in the Irish Cup and BetMcLean Cup have so far eluded the Invermen however.

Gary Haveron's side saw off Cliftonville 2-0 in Friday's Premiership encounter between the sides at the same venue but another close contest is anticipated with a place in the 9 March showpiece final at stake.

Larne's last appearance in a League Cup final saw them lose to Cliftonville on penalties in the 2003-04 campaign, while they also came out second best to Linfield in their only other previous involvement in a final in the 1991-92 campaign.

Larne go into the game on a run of five unbeaten in the Premiership, with Jim Magilton's side, in contrast, on a sequence of five games without a win in the top division, including defeats in their past four.

The Solitude Reds last lifted the League Cup trophy in 2022 when they defeated Coleraine 4-3 after extra-time and they will be keen to add more silverware to the Irish Cup they collected in May.

Tuesday's other BetMcLean Cup semi-final sees Glentoran face off against Crusaders at the Oval.

The Glens have not tasted defeat in their past nine matches in all competitions so with home advantage in their favour confidence should be high that they can move a step closer to winning the competition for the first time since 2010.

Crusaders target an appearance in the decider with the aim of righting their record of three defeats in their past three finals in the competition.

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Linfield goalkeeper David Walsh has been named as the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Player of the Month for December.

Walsh played a significant role in helping his side secure a big cushion at the top of the Irish Premiership table, keeping four clean sheets in the club's four league games during the final month of 2024.

David Healy's side defeated Coleraine 3-0, beat Dungannon Swifts 1-0, saw off Glenavon by the same scoreline and drew 0-0 with 'Big Two' derby rivals Glentoran on Boxing Day.

Walsh is competing with the experienced former Coleraine stopper Chris Johns for the goalkeeper starting jersey at the Windsor Park outfit but says picking up trophies come the end of the season is the primary focus.

"It's good to win personal stuff but it's more about the team and what we can win at the end of the season," Walsh told BBC Sport NI.

"If someone had said at the start of the season we would be 12 points clear we'd have bitten your arm off. With boys coming in we'll hopefully go from strength to strength between now and the end of the season.

"I'd spoken to the manager a couple of times about wanting to play and he just said 'your time will come' and thankfully it has."

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Carrick Rangers boss Stephen Baxter said that his side "didn't do enough" to trouble Linfield as they were beaten 3-0 by the Blues at Windsor Park.

After restricting Linfield in the first half, the Blues' quality shone in the second as goals from Joel Cooper, Euan East and Matthew Fitzpatrick secured the three points.

Despite the loss, Baxter was content with his side's display against the league leaders.

"It was a tight game, because we made it tight, we made sure we were defensively solid and we restricted Linfield to chances from outside our box," he told BBC Sport NI.

"Linfield played at a higher tempo today and had more quality than we did and when you put those together you are always going to be up against it.

"We were here to try contain Linfield and hit them on the break, but it didn't happen for us, it's a learning curve, but we haven't done enough here to win the game."

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Linfield boss David Healy praised his side's second half display in their 3-0 win against Carrick Rangers.

After a drab goalless first half, second half efforts from Joel Cooper, Euan East and Matthew Fitzpatrick secured the win, which extends the Blues' lead at the top of the table to 12 points.

"I thought there were bits and pieces in the first half, we created decent opportunities but credit to Stephen and his team, we had to be patient," Healy told BBC Sport NI.

"We didn't feel as if we had to readjust too much, we just had to be more clinical in the final third.

"We got a wonderful goal by Joel and it was important to capitalise on that which we did and we had a 10–15-minute spell where we blitzed them and made it a lot more comfortable."

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Loughgall manager Dean Smith said his side can have no complaints about the result after their narrow 1-0 defeat by Portadown at Lakeview Park.

The struggling Villagers suffered a 17th league loss of the season after James Teelan's goal secured the three points for the Ports.

Smith's side are eight points adrift of Carrick Rangers at the bottom of the table as they battle for survival.

"It is a difficult day in difficult conditions, there wasn't a lot in the game first half and second half we huffed and puffed without creating too many chances," Smith told BBC Sport NI.

"Portadown had the better clear-cut chances, so we have no complaints about the result."

Smith was also frustrated by the manner of the goal they conceded.

"We can't keep giving goals away like we do at the minute and expect to win football games," he added.

"We are lacking confidence with where we are, but it is basics, it is a long throw-in and a runner goes clean through, so it is another sloppy goal from us."

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Portadown boss Niall Currie praised the "full-hearted" display from his side in their hard-fought 1-0 win against Loughgall at Lakeview Park.

James Teelan scored the only goal of the game in the first half as the Ports got back to winning ways after successive league defeats.

And Currie was delighted with the response of his side to their recent struggles, including an Irish Cup exit to Championship Annagh United, on a difficult pitch.

"I think everyone could see how heavy the pitch was and it was a game for warriors, we knew we would have to dig in really deep and the players were superb today," he told BBC Sport NI.

"We've got a full-hearted Portadown performance which we have had for most of the same, the last three or four performances have been disappointing, but we were resolute and resilient and thoroughly deserved our win."

Currie reserved special praise for goalscorer Teelan, who netted on his debut last week and again today as he continues his bright start to life at the Ports after signing from Crusaders.

"He has been super, he has been a breath of fresh air, he causes problems with his movement and pace in behind and two great finishes and he has come in and hit the ground running."

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Crusaders boss Declan Caddell said it was a "really poor day at the office" after his side were beaten 5-1 at Seaview by Dungannon Swifts.

The north Belfast side were 2-0 down at half-time after goals from John McGovern and Brandon Bermingham.

McGovern netted a third soon after the restart with Tomas Galvin scoring twice either side of Jordan Owens' consolation goal.

"I thought we weren't at the races today and Dungannon were excellent, and they were ruthless," he told BBC Sport NI.

"First half, two mistakes from ourselves and two goals. You get them in at half-time and try and regroup and another mistake and it's the third goal and the game is dead," Caddell continued.

"It was damage limitation from us, we have a big game on Tuesday [a BetMcLean Cup semi-final against Glentoran] and it gave me the opportunity to get a few boys off."

Whilst refusing to make excuses from his side's poor display at home, Caddell admitted that injuries have hampered his team in recent weeks.

"We had three of the same starting 11 from when we played them five weeks ago with eight missing, they have virtually the same starting team and I have been harping on about it, but injuries are killing us at the minute."

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Dungannon Swifts boss Rodney McAree said his side played "extremely well" in their stunning 5-1 victory against Crusaders at Seaview.

The Swifts produced a ruthless display to ease to victory with John McGovern and Tomas Galvin both netting twice and Brandon Bermingham getting on the scoresheet.

The win moves the Swifts up to second in the table and McAree was delighted with their clinical performance.

"It's been a long time since we have come to Seaview and got a win, we came here earlier in the season and we played extremely well but didn't get the three points," he told BBC Sport NI.

"I thought today, to a man, we were very good, we could be better but that is just the expectations I have."

McAree was particularly pleased with how his side managed the second half and went for more goals after leading 2-0 at half-time, netting soon after the restart.

"That second goal gives you the cushion, it was a great pass from Kealan [Dillon] and a good finish from John and it let me enjoy the game a bit more," McAree admitted.

After a sticky patch, the Swifts have now won back-to-back league games to move back up the table and McAree wants them to keep pushing as they look to secure a top six spot after a superb campaign to date.

"We're going in the right direction, we know there is still a lot of improvement, but we want to stay there now and see how long we can stay there for," he added.

"It's not a fluke that we are where we are, we haven't played three or four games, we've played 24 games and we've got good quality so as long as we show desire, we can stay there."

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Two of Saturday's Irish Premiership fixtures have been postponed due to frozen pitches.

Ballymena United v Glentoran at the Showgrounds and Glenavon v Coleraine at Mourneview Park were both called off on Saturday morning following cold weather which brought snow and ice to parts of Northern Ireland this week.

The Sky Blues and the Glens met in the BetMcLean Cup on Tuesday night, with the game switched to the Oval after heavy snowfall in the Ballymena area made the pitch at the Warden Street ground unplayable.

The game between Glenavon and Coleraine was postponed after a pitch inspection on Saturday morning at Mourneview Park.

The three other Irish Premiership games on Saturday are still set to go ahead with Crusaders hosting Dungannon Swifts, Linfield taking on Carrick Rangers and Loughgall facing Portadown.

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Larne midfielder Dylan Sloan said he was delighted to celebrate signing a new long-term contract with the club by scoring his second goal in as many games in Friday's 2-0 win over Cliftonville at Inver Park.

The 20-year-old doubled his side's lead on 79 minutes after earlier pressurising Reds defender Luke Conlan into turning the ball into his own net for the opener in the first minute of the second half.

Sloan was also on target in the champions' 3-1 away win at Crusaders on Tuesday.

"Tuesday was my first goal in about a year or so and now I've scored again so that will get my confidence up," the 20-year-old told BBC Sport NI.

"Performance wise I thought we did well in some ways, and we had to dig deep.

"Cliftonville had decent possession during the game, but I thought we controlled it off the ball as well so hopefully we can kick on from here."

The victory over Jim Magilton's side moved the back-to-back champions into fifth in the Premiership table ahead of Saturday's programme of five fixtures, the first time they have occupied a position in the top half this season.

"We've been lacking quality at times the last couple of months but we have scored five in the month of January so far so we will just have to take that onto the next game.

"We have a lot of games in hand and we have to realistically go into those and win all of them if we want to win the league for the third time in a row.

"Linfield are well ahead so we still have a lot to do but hopefully we can catch them."

Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton says Ryan Curran's disallowed goal in Friday's 2-0 defeat by Larne was a "really poor decision".

Curran had a header ruled out for offside at the end of the first half before Larne hit the opener within 60 seconds of the restart.

Cliftonville's players and staff were incensed with the decision to disallow the goal, which Magilton said would have been "just rewards" for their first-half performance.

"For the life of me I can't understand why it wasn't a goal. They are trying to say it was offside, but nobody from Larne complained.

"Not that they would, but there wasn't any arms going up for offside or anything like that as opposition players will do if they are confident it is offside."

To compound Cliftonville's frustration, Luke Conlan turned the ball into his own net under pressure from Dylan Sloan to give Larne the lead immediately after the restart.

Rory Hale had a chance to equalise but Sloan wrapped up the win, which condemns Cliftonville to a fourth league defeat in a row.

"It's a really poor decision and it's cost us but it still doesn't take away how badly we started the second half," added Magilton.

"It's starting to become an annoying trend, for me and the staff, that we start second halves really poorly.

"We had opportunities to clear our lines and didn't, and then it's a really poor goal.

"Then we get another suck-punch, another really poor goal and against quality opposition like Larne there is no way back."

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Louise Thompson will become the first female to referee a men's Irish Premiership game when she takes charge of Saturday's match between Crusaders and Dungannon Swifts at Seaview.

The Fifa official made history back in July 2020 by becoming the first female to referee an Intermediate Cup final.

She has also been in the middle for Irish Cup and Championship games, as well as Women's Premiership matches, and been fourth official at Premiership fixtures.

The Northern Ireland referee has also gained significant experience at international level, including being in charge for women's international games.

The Fermanagh woman refereed the Women's Champions League encounter between Breznica and Birkirkara in September 2024.

Thompson was referee for last week's Irish Cup fifth-round tie between Linfield and Wellington Rec at Windsor Park, which the hosts won 4-0.

Image source, David Cavan/Coleraine FC

Cliftonville midfielder Ronan Doherty has joined Irish Premiership rivals Coleraine for an undisclosed fee.

The 29-year-old becomes Dean Shiels' second January recruit after former Cliftonville defender Paddy Burns signed for the club on Thursday.

The Reds confirmed in a statement that Doherty, who joined the Solitude club in 2019, had already agreed a move to the Bannsiders at the end of the season but leaves this month after the two clubs agreed a fee.

"He's an all-round top midfielder in the league and we are delighted to have him," Shiels told the Coleraine website.

"He fits the profile of what we are trying to build here. Having lost Ciaron Harkin and Mackenzie Carse, we are more than pleased to bring in someone of Ronan's quality and we are looking forward to working with him."

On Thursday, Shiels said Coleraine would not be signing unattached Gavin Whyte having previously expressed interest in the Northern Ireland international.

Cliftonville have also confirmed that on-loan Taylor Steven has been recalled by parent club St Johnstone.

The 20-year-old winger scored four times in 20 appearances for Jim Magilton's side after joining in August last year.

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Glentoran manager Declan Devine has been named as the Northern Ireland Football Writers' manager of the month for December.

The Glens boss guided his charges to three victories and one draw in the Irish Premiership during the final month of 2024, a run which helped propel his side to second spot in the top flight table.

The Oval outfit were 3-1 winners against Crusaders at Seaview, ran out 2-1 victors over Cliftonville at Solitude, drew 0-0 with Linfield on Boxing Day and defeated Portadown 2-0 at Shamrock Park.

The east Belfast side also began the month by beating big Belfast derby rivals Linfield 1-0 at Windsor Park to advance to the quarter-final stage of the BetMcLean Cup.

"When I came in at the end of last season I felt we needed a reboot, a reset," said Devine who was originally put in temporary charge after former manager Warren Feeney's departure, before taking on the role on a permanent basis.

"We have a good fight about us, a good spirit about us, and the lads enjoy coming into work every day.

"Long may that continue because we have to continue to raise standards, continue to raise levels of performance. We know we have a lot of work to do."

Devine was recently rewarded for his efforts by receiving a new two-and-a-half year contract which will see him remain at the helm with the Glens until 2027.

"Everyone is pulling in the one direction at Glentoran - it's a real positive place and we'll continue to build on that," added the ex-Derry City and Bohemians boss.

"We have to continue and strive every day to get better.

"We have to be challenging for titles and trophies but we have to understand the room for improvement. We have to get that mentality of winning trophies back into the building."