Irish League Football

Image source, Inpho

Portadown manager Niall Currie heaped praise on his players after their 2-0 Irish Premiership win over nine-man Cliftonville which moved the Shamrock Park outfit up to third spot in the table.

Ryan Mayse's fourth-minute goal gave the Ports a deserved lead and Ahu Obhakhan doubled their advantage in first-half injury-time after Reds pair Conor Pepper and Jonny Addis were red carded.

"The first half was brilliant. Whenever you come up against the kind of quality that Cliftonville have, you have to stay in the game for the initial 15, 20 minutes," said Currie.

"We started really well. We had a lot about us. Our endeavour was good, our hunger was good and our control of the game was pretty decent."

The Ports were already bossing the game when Pepper was sent off at the hour hour mark after picking up his second yellow card in four minutes.

"We were at a high level in the first half. We had a good balance about us. We had great options in wide areas. We carried a threat throughout the whole game," added Currie.

But while thrilled with his players' display, Currie insisted that his players must not get "carried away".

"We're over the moon at the situation we're in at the moment but we also understand that football changes very quickly and I know that as a manager.

"We've got to keep focusing and working hard."

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Linfield manager David Healy has praised the contribution made to his team by forward Matthew Fitzpatrick.

The former Glenavon player scored twice in his side's 3-0 win over Coleraine at Windsor Park on Saturday as the Blues moved eight points clear at the top of the table.

"First and foremost his work ethic, his hunger to keep going and playing," said Healy of Fitzpatrick's qualities.

"His performance merited his goals today. There have been plenty of performances he's given us this season where he hasn't been on the scoresheet.

"There have been times this season when he has basically been the only fit centre forward that we have. He very rarely misses too many games which is an absolute credit to him."

Fitzpatrick has on occasions attracted criticism for his goal tally but Healy believes the player brings much to the team.

"I've no doubt he knows the challenges here and people tally up the games that he's played and the goals but he knows what I think of him.

"If he continues doing the job that he's done for a long time now and he can add one or two goals like he did today then we'll settle for that."

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Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree praised the "perseverance" of his players as they secured an "ugly" 1-0 win over Ballymena United to elevate themselves to second place in the Irish Premiership.

Substitute Andy Mitchell's 85th-minute penalty after Joseph Moore had been penalised for a rash challenge in the area secured victory for the visitors to the Showgrounds, who sit eight points behind leaders Linfield.

"We did the simple things well and got our just rewards in playing it simply, passing it simply, getting an opportunity in the 18-yard box and thankfully we get the penalty kick which leads to the winning goal," reflected McAree.

"It was a case of perseverance, keep a clean sheet and hopefully the goal will come for us. The boys deserve immense credit."

Ballymena goalkeeper made a string of outstanding saves in the first half in a keenly contested encounter.

"I thought we created the better opportunities over the course of the game.

"Ballymena went close on occasions and we rode our luck at times. The free-kick that hits the post is a great delivery from Ben Kennedy. I felt at that stage it could be one of those days when we get a real ugly 1-0 win. It always felt like it was going to be a 1-0 victory either way.

"Thankfully today that proved to be the case."

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Glentoran manager Declan Devine said he was delighted to see Jordan Jenkins and Wassim Aouachira find the net in the side's 3-1 victory over Crusaders at Seaview.

Coming into the game, the east Belfast side were the lowest scorers in the Irish Premiership's top eight with forwards at the Oval coming in for criticism in recent weeks.

But, after coming off the bench in the second half, Jenkins cancelled out Jordan Forsythe's 24th minute header with his first league goal since August before summer signing and fellow substitute Wassim opened his account for the Glens to round off the comeback.

"I'm delighted for them because they've waited for their chance and JJ [Jenkins] has got a few important goals for us this year," said Devine.

"I don't think it's very fair that the front players have come in for a bit of abuse because it's all over the pitch, it's a team game and we saw that tonight.

"We're creating a lot of opportunities but we've missed chances from set-pieces too with defenders up in the box. All in all, if anyone is getting abuse, we all take it as a group."

Glentoran have now lost just once in their past seven games in all competitions and won in north Belfast despite the absence of players like Jay Donnelly, Frankie Hvid and James Singleton.

"There was probably a different team picked yesterday for the game but the lads were ready and that's really pleasing," added Devine.

"We came into the game missing a lot of bodies, five or six players who would normally be starting in the team.

"We preach a lot about the depth of our squad and that when players get an opportunity, that they take their opportunity. That was the most pleasing factor."

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Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton says he expects improvement from his side in the second half of the Irish Premiership season despite the Reds lying second in the standings, seven points behind leaders Linfield.

The Reds are on a run of just one defeat from their past eight top flight outings ahead of a testing trip to Shamrock Park to take on Portadown on Saturday.

"I know we are capable of more. If I thought we were at the height of our powers then I'd worry," said Magilton.

"I think there's more to come from all the players and obviously we'll be looking to strengthen in January to make us better."

The Irish Cup winners lost a wealth of striking talent in the form of Ronan Hale, Sam Ashford and Ben Wilson during the summer but the prolific Joe Gormley sits atop the league scoring charts with 14 goals so far in the 2024-25 Premiership campaign.

"A lot outside of the four walls of our changing room was made of it [losing the forward trio] and quite rightly in terms of the quality of the lads that had performed so well for us.

"But I always had great faith in the players that we retained.

"I knew that once we found some consistency in our play we could create scoring opportunities and given the scoring prowess that we still retain at the club I knew that they would score goals, and notably Joe. He's had a fantastic first half of the season."

The north Belfast club has also been frugal in defence, conceding 17 goals in their 18 league matches to date.

Magilton added: "The foundation of any good team is not conceding goals and building on that, reducing the opposition to as few opportunities as possible.

"We had a lot of changes [in the summer] and it took players a little bit longer than we anticipated to settle into the club and into the league.

"Once we got that consistency we had a little spell where we played extremely well in one or two games, where I thought we had total control and saw the games out in a really controlled manner. That gave us great confidence."

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John Herron has left Ballymena United after a short spell with the Irish Premiership club.

News of the 30-year-old's midfielder's departure from the Showgrounds was confirmed by the club on Friday.

"After a short spell with Ballymena United we bid farewell to John Herron. We thank John for his time with us and he will always be welcomed back at the Showgrounds," read a short statement from the Sky Blues.

The Braidmen signed Herron in July on a one-year contract but the ex-Glentoran and Larne player was unable to play until well into the campaign as he served a 10-match suspension handed out to him by the Irish Football Association [IFA] for bringing the game into disrepute.

The Scottish player received the ban after images of him at a concert wearing a T-shirt with a pro-IRA slogan appeared on social media while he was with Larne.

Richard Petrie
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Presseye

Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree says his side will need to be even better in the second half of the Irish Premiership season if they are to have any chance of holding onto the top-six position they currently occupy in the league.

The Stangmore Park club, who travel to Ballymena on Saturday, sit in a lofty fourth spot in the table after their first 19 matches of the campaign thanks to nine wins and three draws.

The league splits into a top six and bottom six for the final five series of games after all clubs have fulfilled 33 fixtures.

"It's going to be a huge ask even from the position we are sitting in," said McAree of retaining a place in the upper half of the table.

"We understand how hard we've had to work and what we've had to put into all those games to try and get results out of them so we know we'll probably have to work even harder now in the second half of the season as if clubs have underestimated us they're certainly not going to underestimate us from now on.

"So we're going to have to do better again, keep improving, keep getting better, play better and compete better if we're going to continue it on."

The Swifts boss has commended his players for maintaining their form through the first four months of the term.

"You thought after a few matches you were sitting in a good position, you wonder can you keep it going, and again after 10 games, and we've probably kept it going now for 19 games which is huge credit to the players.

"The one thing I asked them to do at the start of the season was to compete in every game and that was probably my sole focus when I came back to the club."

Crusaders v Glentoran (Friday, 19:45 BST, Live on BBC iPlayer & BBC Sport website)

Declan Devine will be pleased with Glentoran's brilliant result Tuesday week ago against Linfield, but I think consistency has been their problem. The same could be said for Crusaders as well. They seem to have plenty of goals in them. Hopefully good viewing for the public at home!

Prediction: 2-2 (Result: 1-3)

Ballymena United v Dungannon Swifts (Saturday, 15:00 GMT, coverage on Sportsound on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Ulster)

These are two teams that have really surprised everybody this season. Ballymena didn't get start off great and then went on a brilliant run at the top of the table for a little bit. Rodney McAree's team have probably sustained their form better over the course of the season but I think with Ballymena being at home they should take the points.

Prediction: 2-1 (Result: 0-1)

Carrick Rangers v Loughgall (Saturday, 15:00 GMT, coverage on Sportsound on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Ulster)

Last year both teams did ever so well. Stuart King had Carrick in the European play-offs, but it didn't go so well for him this season. Stephen Baxter's gone in there and steadied the ship a little bit. I think Loughgall have just struggled this year, and I feel for Dean Smith because he's done a good job there.

Prediction: 3-0 (Result: 0-0)

Linfield v Coleraine (Saturday, 15:00 GMT, coverage on Sportsound on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Ulster)

David Healy and his team will need a result as they always do. Linfield are so far ahead in the league table, but strangely for them they've been inconsistent at home. I haven't seen much of Coleraine but I know that one week they can be brilliant and the next they're a little bit poorer. It's probably a case of new team, new squad obviously with Dean Shiels coming in as manager. With the fixture being at Windsor I just think Linfield will be too strong.

Prediction: 3-1 (Result: 3-0)

Portadown v Cliftonville (Saturday, 15:00 GMT, coverage on Sportsound on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Ulster)

Portadown have been brilliant all season. It's good to see them doing so well. With Cliftonville, I wouldn't say they had a bad start but they didn't have the greatest of starts I suppose, especially following last season. Jim Magilton's got them stabilised now and Joe Gormley's doing what he's done for the last 15 years or so, scoring every game. Portadown's home record has been fantastic. They get late goals and there always seems to be drama in their games so far this year.

Prediction: 2-2 (Result: 2-0)

Don't forget to join Matthew with Michael McNamee on Sportsound this week from 14:00 BST on Saturday for all the latest from the Irish Premiership. Available on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Sounds and on the BBC Sport website.

Image source, Presseye

A meeting of the teams who currently occupy the top two places in the Irish Premiership is among the next batch of matches that will be streamed live by BBC Sport NI over the coming months.

The game between Linfield and Cliftonville at Windsor Park on Saturday 25 January will have a 17:30 GMT kick-off and will be broadcast on the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

The sides have already met twice in the league this season, their first encounter at Solitude in September ending goal-less, before the Reds ran out 2-1 winners at Windsor Park in October.

The first livestreamed BBC Irish Premiership match of 2025 will see Larne face Cliftonville at Inver Park at 19:45 on Friday 10 January.

Seven days later, the Mid Ulster derby between Dungannon Swifts and Glenavon will be shown on 17 January, kick-off again at 19:45.

Three more fixtures will be streamed live across BBC Sport NI on Friday nights in February.

They are the games between Ballymena United and Linfield on 7 February, Coleraine and Glentoran on 14 February and Cliftonville against Glentoran on 21 February.

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Carrick Rangers have bolstered their squad with the additions of Ethan Boyle, Reece Webb and Cian O'Malley from League of Ireland First Division side Wexford.

The trio will officially join the club in January alongside Shane Forbes, who arrives from fellow First Division team Athlone Town.

Midfielder Boyle captained Wexford for two seasons and has also played for Linfield as well as Waterford, Finn Harps and Shamrock Rovers, amassing over 200 League of Ireland appearances.

Young full-back Webb made 34 appearances for Wexford last season after beginning his career at St Patrick's Athletic.

Defender O'Malley scored three goals in 25 appearances for the League of Ireland side last campaign.

Stephen Baxter's fourth addition of the winter transfer window will be forward Forbes who helped Athlone reach the semi-finals of the First Division play-offs last term.

Image source, Inpho

The Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL) has confirmed fixtures dates for two of the six Irish Premiership games which were postponed on Saturday as a result of Storm Darragh.

Leaders Linfield's game at Dungannon Swifts - which was called off only 70 minutes before the scheduled kick-off - has been rescheduled for Tuesday, 17 December.

Glenavon's contest with Crusaders, which fell victim to the elements on Saturday, will also take place on 17 December.

Coleraine's game against Cliftonville, originally scheduled for 12 October, will be played on Tuesday, 4 February.

Dates for last weekend's other postponed games, which were Cliftonville v Carrick Rangers, Coleraine v Portadown, Glentoran v Ballymena United and Loughgall v Larne, have yet to be confirmed.

NIFL came in for criticism for the late postponements of Saturday's games which included strong comments from Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, who said clubs, players and fans had "been left in an appalling situation".

NIFL chief executive Gerard Lawlor later apologised for the way that Saturday's events had been handled, adding that the league would look at revising its response to weather warnings in a way that removed pressure from home clubs, referees and stadium safety officers.

Lawlor also added that NIFL would look at reimbursing supporters who lost money as a result of the late postponements.