Irish League Football

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Linfield chairman Roy McGivern says the club "remain determined" to retain David Healy's services as manager despite Raith Rovers' apparent efforts to lure him away from Windsor Park.

Healy is understood to be Raith's preferred candidate to succeed Ian Murray, who was sacked just one match into the new Championship campaign in Scotland.

Linfield confirmed on Friday that they had received an official approach from the Scottish club but McGivern's comments on social media on Saturday evening made clear he has not given up on Healy remaining with the Irish Premiership club.

"We remain determined to retain the services of our manager David Healy to drive us onto further success this season and beyond," said the Linfield chairman.

Speaking after Linfield's 5-1 hammering of Loughgall, Healy's assistant Ross Oliver said that the Northern Ireland great "loves the club and wants to be here".

Rovers finished second in last season's Scottish Championship and missed out on top-flight promotion after a play-off defeat.

Healy has one year left on his current deal at Windsor Park.

“As long as David Healy is here, he does the job and again, he loves the club and everyone knows what the club means to him and he’ll continue to do the job," Oliver told BBC Sport NI.

“His record speaks for itself, as I alluded to earlier, he loves the club and wants to be here."

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Jim Ervin says he was 'frustrated' after Ballymena's 1-0 defeat by Dungannon Swifts at Stangmore Park.

The result means that Ballymena United still await their first points of the season after four games.

“It’s a hard one to take,” Ervin admitted to BBC Sport NI.

“First half, we were no near good enough, miles off it. We struggled to cope first half and if I’m being honest, I think we were fortunate enough to go in a goal down.

“Half-time we made a change, changed the system and the personnel and tried to make it a bit more positive.

"The signs were there, and we did have chances, but again from start to finish I feel like we’ve huffed and puffed and came away with nothing again.”

Despite recruiting heavily in the summer Ballymena, who avoided relegation last season after a 2-1 promotion/relegation play-off victory over Institute, sit bottom of the Premiership table.

“We’re four games in, but at the same time with each game that passes there is going to be that panic and frustration.

“We’re frustrated as a coaching staff, we’re frustrated as a team.

"We have let the boys talk in there because I think over the last three weeks, we have done a lot of talking as coaching staff.

"So, they have spoken to themselves and criticised themselves in terms of what they are and aren’t doing so we now have to get a major response come Friday evening [against Glenavon]."

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Four Dungannon Swifts players involved in a road traffic crash on the way to Saturday's home Irish Premiership game against Ballymena United have been described as "all right" by their manager Rodney McAree.

Police received a report of a four-vehicle collision on Lisburn Road in Moira and the PSNI later said that it was "not believed that anyone was seriously injured".

"We would appeal to anyone who may have been in the area at the time, who may have dashcam or other footage which could assist with our ongoing enquiries, to contact us on 101 quoting reference 608 24/08/24," said the PSNI.

McAree confirmed after the game that Declan Dunne, James Knowles, Tom Maguire and Danny Wallace were the four players involved.

"Thankfully there is nothing serious with any of the four of them,” a relieved McAree told BBC Sport NI.

“It’s a phone call that when you get, you panic a little. It was Declan Dunne who phoned me, it was a video call, so he was able to show me the collision and the damage.

"There were obviously four players in the car, and he was able to show me all four. They looked a bit groggy but at that stage of the accident they were starting to get back on their feet and making sure they were doing the right thing. Thankfully they are all right."

McAree said Dungannon wanted the game postponed but Ballymena declined.

“There is no law that says that the league can postpone it or that we have the rights to call it off. We did ask Ballymena if we could postpone and put it back on another date.

"I appreciate Ballymena have come a long distance and the Ballymena players come a long distance and they felt with the travelling support that they wanted the game to go ahead which is fair enough, everyone had their own decision to make."

Kealan Dillon scored the only goal of the game in the 20th minute to secure Dungannon's first victory of the season.

"It's an ugly 1-0 win, we haven’t been great throughout the game," McAree added.

"We dug in, we fought our corner and we got the three points and I'm delighted for the changing room."

Image source, Pacemaker

Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree has said they asked Ballymena United if they could postpone today's fixture after four players were involved in a road traffic collision on their way to Stangmore Park.

McAree confirmed after the game that Declan Dunne, James Knowles, Tom Maguire and Danny Wallace were the four players involved.

"Thankfully there is nothing serious with any of the four of them,” a relieved McAree told BBC Sport NI.

“It’s a phone call that when you get, you panic a little. It was Declan Dunne who phoned me, it was a video call, so he was able to show me the collision and the damage.

"There were obviously four players in the car, and he was able to show me all four. They looked a bit groggy but at that stage of the accident they were starting to get back on their feet and making sure they were doing the right thing. Thankfully they are all right."

McAree said Dungannon wanted the game postponed but Ballymena declined.

“There is no law that says that the league can postpone it or that we have the rights to call it off. We did ask Ballymena if we could postpone and put it back on another date.

"I appreciate Ballymena have come a long distance and the Ballymena players come a long distance and they felt with the travelling support that they wanted the game to go ahead which is fair enough, everyone had their own decision to make."

Kealan Dillon scored the only goal of the game in the 20th minute to secure Dungannon's first victory of the season.

"It's an ugly 1-0 win, we haven’t been great throughout the game," McAree added.

"We dug in, we fought our corner and we got the three points and I'm delighted for the changing room."

Goals from Davy McDaid and Keith Ward see Glenavon register their first points of the Premiership campaign with a 2-0 win at Coleraine.

Read match report here

Dungannon Swifts secure their first win of the new season with a 1-0 victory over Ballymena United.

Read more.

It ends honours even in the first north Belfast derby of the season with a 1-1 draw between Crusaders and Cliftonville at Seaview.

Ryan Curran's penalty put the Reds in front but Crusaders were soon level with Kieran Offord slotting home.

Read match report here

With all eyes on the future of their manager David Healy, Linfield were four up at half time against Loughgall, ultimately winning 5-1 at Windsor Park.

Read more.

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Declan Devine has made a seventh summer addition to his Glentoran squad with the signing of Kodi Lyons-Foster.

The defender, who spent time in youth academies at Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Bristol City, most recently played for Worthing in the National League South.

Glentoran, who saw defenders Luke McCullough, Rhys Marshall and Aidan Wilson leave the Oval after the 2023-24 campaign, suffered an early season injury blow when Josh Kelly was forced off against Coleraine this week.

“Kodi is a very welcome addition to the group," said Devine.

"He’s a right footed defender who can fit in anywhere across the back four. We needed that balance of a right footer to fit in either as part of a three or at right back.

"He’s the perfect age for us and he’s clocked up a high number of games at a good level on top of his great pedigree as a youth player.

"He’s also a fantastic person who’ll fit very well into what is already a very good, tight group of players with a great positive attitude and a willingness to fight tooth and nail to get the results and success we all want.

"Kodi fits that bill perfectly and I’m delighted to have him here.”

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David Fisher said scoring his first goals of the season was a "relief" as he was on target twice in Glentoran's 3-2 Irish Premiership victory over Carrick Rangers at Taylors Avenue.

Fisher admitted that he had not had the "easiest" of starts to the campaign.

"I just got myself into the right headspace today and made sure I put in a performance that the fans deserve," Fisher told BBC Sport Northern Ireland after Friday night's game.

Glens boss hailed Fisher's display as "outstanding" as he levelled at 1-1 four minutes before half-time and then headed a 77th-minute winner.

"It’s a new team. We’ve got loads of fresh faces. We’re still learning how each other plays and getting used to each other," added the striker.

After losing their opening game of the campaign at home to Crusaders, the Glens have responded by picking up seven points out of a possible nine and Fisher believes that it demonstrates encouraging signs for the Oval club.

"We just need to keep going the way we are going and we’ll get there. We’ll definitely be up there I think."

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Declan Devine hailed his Glentoran players' "tremendous character" as they battled to secure a 3-2 Irish Premiership victory over 10-man Carrick Rangers at Taylors Avenue.

Carrick boss Stuart King complained about Glentoran's Marcus Kane escaping a red card prior before the before of home player Kurtis Forsythe shortly before the interval.

Devine retorted that Carrick's penalty which gave them a 1-0 lead should not have been a spot-kick as he claimed that the challenge on Paul Heatley had been "outside the box".

"We all make mistakes. Thankfully it didn’t cost us," Devine told BBC Sport Northern Ireland.

"Fantastic character from the lads with our third game in six days at a really difficult venue against a really good team under Stuart."

Devine hailed the display of two-goal hero David Fisher with Frankie Hvid scoring Glentoran's other goal in first-half injury-time.

"David Fisher tonight was outstanding. And I thought James Douglas in the middle of the park at only 18 years of age and only his second start for Glentoran was magnificent.

"All in all, three points in the bag. Seven points out of nine the last six days. We’ll take that and move on to next week."

Devine added that he expects to add to his squad strength prior to Friday's transfer deadline day.

"We’re delighted with the people we’ve got but we’re still a wee bit fragile in certain positions."

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Carrick Rangers manager Stuart King said Glentoran should have been reduced to 10 men before his side had Kurtis Forsythe sent off in their 3-2 Irish Premiership home defeat at Taylors Avenue.

King was unhappy that Glentoran defender Marcus Kane only received a yellow card in the 32nd minute for a lunging tackle on Carrick's Joe Crowe, who had to go off after attempting to run off the effects of the challenge.

Forsythe was then sent off before the interval after being deemed to have committed two yellow-card offences on Jonny Russell in a four-minute period.

Asked whether he was "disappointed" by Forsythe's red card, King replied: "I am. That’s all I’ve got to say on it."

King was a little more animated about Kane's tackle on Crowe.

"There’s a straight red card in my opinion in the 32nd minute before we went down to 10 men.

"I don’t want to talk about referees all season. I want to talk about my own lads and what they can do to affect games. We have made errors and misjudged things which basically cost us in the end."

King said his team had performed "really well" but were undone by "individual errors".

"Even when we went down to 10 men and then nine men, we gave it a real go good.

"They’ve celebrated as if they’ve won the league tonight but that’s football. Fair play to them. They’ve won a game that we really performed at a high level in especially when we went down to 10 men. It’s disappointing."

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Sean Brown, who has rejoined Ballymena United for a second spell on loan from Larne, says he is at a stage of his development where he "needs to start playing minutes".

The 19-year-old helped the Sky Blues retain their top flight status last season and while his parent club were preparing for their Uefa Conference League play-off first leg against Lincoln Red Imps on Thursday, Brown played in the 1-0 defeat by Crusaders on Tuesday night on his return to the Showgrounds outfit.

“I feel like it’s my career and I need to start playing minutes. I can’t be sitting on the bench watching," he told BBC Sport NI.

“I’m still a teenager and I’m trying to get experience with all these top players."

Brown praises the approach of United manager Jim Ervin and expects a difficult game against Dungannon Swifts at Stangmore Park on Saturday as the Braidmen search for their first league points of the new campaign.

“He [Jim Ervin] lets me play my own game and enjoy myself," he explained. "I'm still looking to get my full fitness back though.

“Dungannon are a good team, they play good football, but we’ll try and get after them and get the three points.”

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Two Irish Premiership games have been postponed because of international call-ups.

The matches between Cliftonville and Coleraine and Linfield against Crusaders, both scheduled for Saturday 7 September, will both be rearranged for alternative dates.

A further four fixtures are set to go ahead that day - Larne v Ballymena United, Carrick Rangers v Portadown, Dungannon Swifts v Glentoran and Glenavon v Loughgall.

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This will be a difficult game for both teams.

Carrick will be looking for a response after last weekend's 3-0 defeat to Loughall while Glentoran will hope for maximum points after their goalless draw with Coleraine, but they may have a few key injuries!

In terms of players to watch, for Carrick, the firepower and threat of Curtis Allen and Danny Gibson will be key to their chances.

For Glentoran, Jordan Jenkins has had a positive start to the season, having scored in their win at Portadown.

Dylan Connolly is a potential threat in attack also.

Join Michael Clarke with Paul Leeman on co-commentary for Carrick Rangers v Glentoran live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website from 19:30 BST.

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Matty Lusty says Larne still believe they can qualify for the Uefa Conference League despite falling to a 2-1 defeat in the first leg of their play-off against Lincoln Red Imps.

Lusty's superb first-half strike handed the Irish Premiership champions an early advantage in Faro on Thursday only for Kike Gomez and Joe to turn the tie in the Gibraltar side's favour.

Lusty, 21, admits Larne gave the Imps "too much respect" in the first half but the forward is confident the Inver Park side can realise their European dream in front of their home fans next week.

"We believe in ourselves," Lusty told BBC Sport NI.

"We put Ballkani out and we can beat this team as well."

He added: "It was a tough game. It took us a while to figure them out in the first and we probably gave them too much respect but the second half was much better. We just didn't get that goal to level it."

Having fallen behind in Faro, Larne spurned a chance to level the tie with a quarter of an hour to play when Andy Ryan fired wide having rounded the keeper following a Lusty flick-on.

"Going into the home leg we'll probably have a lot of possession and hopefully we can do more with it and create more chances," said Lusty, who also scored Larne's winner in the away leg against Ballkani.