Irish League Football

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Loughgall manager Dean Smith said he was ‘delighted’ with his side’s performance in their opening fixture of the new season.

Goals from Jordan Gibson and Benji Magee secured the three points for Smith's men, who didn't play last week due to Larne's European run.

“I’m delighted, it was a very good team performance today and I thought we deserved the win," Smith told BBC Sport NI.

"We kept a clean sheet, and we scored three goals so what’s not to be happy about?"

Two headers from Gibson gave the dominant home side a comfortable lead at the break.

“We have a go at him [Gibson] at times about not scoring enough, especially in midfield and he plays as a 10 sometimes for us, but today he has come up with two special goals for us.”

One worry for the home side going into the game was that last year’s Young Player of the Year Benji Magee, who scored 16 league goals and was a stalwart of Loughgall’s team last season during their first year back in the Premiership, was on the bench today.

"Benji Magee has had a really poor time in terms of injury and niggles,” Smith explained.

“We knew he wasn’t maybe ready for 90 minutes, but you can see what he brings to us when he comes onto the pitch.”

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Ballymena United boss Jim Ervin wants to see a response from his players after derby disappointment at the hands of Coleraine on Friday night.

The Sky Blues twice responded to going a goal down, efforts from Johnny McMurray and Ben Kennedy cancelling out strikes from Jack Scott and Jamie Glackin.

But after the latter was sent off, for an off-the-ball incident that preceded Kennedy's successful spot kick, Ervin's side struggled against ten men with goals from Rhyss Campbell and Matthew Shevlin giving the Bannsiders the 4-2 victory.

"I'll self-evaluate my performance. We've lost a game so my performance hasn't been up to scratch," Ervin said.

"I'm first to admit that and big enough to take that. I'll go back and look through every decision I made, whether it was right or whether it was wrong. I hope the players will go back and do that themselves.

"We'll be showing them where we could have improved, what we could have done better.

"I'd like to think the players will be hurting, I would like to think that."

Ervin, who said Coleraine's desire to "run more" despite their numerical disadvantage was the most disappointing aspect of the defeat, was especially displeased by the impact of his bench against the ten men.

"Subs are disappointed not to play, I get that, but there's only one way you can change that and it's by giving me a reaction when you come on the pitch," he added.

"Our substitutes didn't do that. Substitutes come on and we're asking them to make an impact, to get on the ball and go and create something.

"To be honest, the substitutions that we made tonight, they made very little impact."

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After picking up his first three points as Coleraine manager against Ballymena United on Friday night, Dean Shiels praised the character of his side when reduced to 10 men.

The Bannsiders edged an exciting derby game 4-2, despite Jamie Glacken being shown a red card before the hour mark.

With the off-the-ball incident also seeing the midfielder concede a penalty that allowed Ballymena to equalise for a second time in the game, Shiels was thrilled by his side's approach when playing more than a third of the game a man down.

The hosts were the better side after Ben Kennedy's spot kick had made it 2-2, with Rhyss Campbell and Matthew Shevlin scoring to give them a deserved victory.

"What I was really proud of, with ten men we showed really good desire to get on the ball, we didn't just kick it back to Ballymena," said Shiels, who did not see the incident that saw Glackin dismissed.

"We tried to put passes together and keep it away from Ballymena.

"We got up the pitch and we scored two goals with ten men which was really pleasing."

The victory, along with a point away to Dungannon on the opening weekend, represents a solid start to life at the Showgrounds for Shiels, who took over in the summer when the long-serving Oran Kearney moved into a director of football role.

"I'm still learning about this team," he added.

"We were challenged and we stood up to it. That was encouraging. There's loads of positives to work on, definitely improvements there too.

"It's only three points but it's a really good three points."

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Larne's Irish Premiership game against Crusaders on Sunday has been postponed as part of fixture amendments to their next four Irish Premiership matches because of their Uefa Conference League play-off.

The Inver Park outfit will travel to Faro in Portugal for next Thursday's Conference League play-off first leg against the Lincoln Red Imps with the home leg taking place a week later.

Larne's dramatic penalty shootout victory over Ballkani of Kosovo at Inver Park on Thursday night has already guaranteed the club around £850,000, which could be tripled by accounting for the Gibraltar club.

A statement from the Northern Ireland Football League said Crusaders had agreed to Larne's request for Sunday's game at Seaview to be postponed. No new date for that game has been confirmed.

Larne's home Northern Ireland Football League contest with Portadown scheduled for 24 August has also been deferred - following agreement with the Shamrock Park club - with a re-fixture date also still to be finalised.

The same applies to Larne's derby game at Carrick Rangers which had been scheduled for Tuesday, 27 August.

Larne's contest at Coleraine set for Friday 30 August will instead be played at the Showgrounds on Sunday, 1 September.

A further fixture revision sees Ballymena United's game against Crusaders brought forward 24 hours to Tuesday, 20 August.

No Irish League side has previously reached the group stages of a European club competition and NIFL has opted to lighten what would otherwise have been a busy period of fixtures for Tiernan Lynch's side in and around the play-off tie.

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Larne manager Tiernan Lynch hailed his players in "flying the flag" for the entire Irish League as they moved to the brink of a historic qualification for the group stages of the Uefa Conference League.

On a dramatic night at Inver Park, Larne beat Kosovan champions Ballkani in a penalty shootout to set up a play-off tie with Gibraltar club Lincoln Red Imps, with the first leg taking place in Faro next week.

Thursday's triumph means Larne are already guaranteed in the region of £850,000 but they would most likely triple that if they become the first Irish League club to reach the group stage of a European club competition.

"This league is better than some people give it credit for," said Lynch following his side's shootout win, after Ballkani's 1-0 win on the night had ensured extra-time and then penalties.

"To go into extra-time and then penalties in such a high tempo game was an incredible feat for them."

Goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson was Larne's shootout hero as he saved two penalties - including an effort from Walid Hamidi, who had beaten him from the spot seconds before half-time in normal time.

Ferguson paid tribute to Lynch and his backroom staff for having the information on the Ballkani penalty takers which enable him to make the tie-winning saves.

"Our guy who does all the analysis basically picked three of the four penalties that were right. That’s a big help for me," said the Scot.

After Ferguson's heroics, Chris Gallagher held his nerve to slot the penalty which secured victory.

Asked what in his mind as he stood up to take the kick in what may have been the biggest moment in the club's history, Gallagher replied: "Nothing really. Full focus was on where I wanted to put my penalty. Lucky enough I put it away and then the celebrations happened.

"We’ve obviously made it clear a few times that we want to be the first [Irish League] side to get through to the group stages of European football. We’re a step closer. It’s going to be a big task but it’s one we’ll prepare for."

Before that, Larne will face Crusaders in the Irish Premiership on Sunday.

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Week two of the season brings another incomplete slate of Irish Premiership fixtures with Larne's continued involvement in Europe meaning their defence of the Gibson Cup remains on hold. Still, there are five games to get our teeth into and the Inver Park outfit's first team coach Gary Haveron gives us his predictions for another big weekend of football.

Coleraine v Ballymena United - Friday 19:45 BST (live on BBC iPlayer)

This is a huge derby game with two much-changed sides from last season both looking to register their first win of the campaign after an opening day draw and defeat respectively.

They may have to wait a little longer for a victory as I believe it’ll be honours even.

Prediction: 1-1 (result 4-2)

Glenavon v Cliftonville - Saturday 15:00 BST (live on Sportsound on Radio Ulster/BBC Sounds)

A Glenavon side in transition will find it tough against Jim Magilton’s Reds.

They’re a strong outfit who will again see themselves as title challengers. Victory for Cliftonville at Mourneview.

Prediction: 1-2 (result 1-2)

Linfield v Dungannon Swifts - Saturday 15:00 BST (live on Sportsound on Radio Ulster/BBC Sounds)

Rodney McAree’s Dungannon Swifts will travel to Windsor Park with no fear after causing the Blues problems last season.

However, with an opening day win under their belt and home advantage, Linfield will be expected to pick up the three points.

Prediction: 2-0 (result 3-1)

Loughgall v Carrick Rangers - Saturday 15:00 BST (live on Sportsound on Radio Ulster/BBC Sounds)

After a strong showing in their first season back in the top flight, Loughgall may find this campaign a little more difficult.

As for Carrick, additional investment and good recruitment will make them a tough nut to crack. Back-to-back wins for Stuart King’s side.

Prediction: 1-2 (result 3-0)

Portadown v Glentoran - Saturday 15:00 BST (live on Sportsound on Radio Ulster/BBC Sounds)

Strong recruitment in the summer for Portadown, but they’re a team still gelling together.

As for Glentoran, they’ll be hoping to bounce back quickly after a disappointing 1-0 defeat at home to Crusaders last week. The return to first team duties for Fuad Sule will be a major boost for Declan Devine’s side. An away win for me.

Prediction: 0-2 (result 1-2)

Crusaders v Larne - Postponed

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• If Ballymena win on Friday night, it will be the first time they have recorded three successive league victories over Coleraine since April 2006.

• In their last five league visits to the Coleraine Showgrounds, Ballymena have lost four and drawn one.

• Ballymena have not won away at Coleraine in the Premiership since a 1-0 success in October 2020, with Kofi Balmer getting the only goal of the game.

• The last scoreless Premiership draw between the teams at the Coleraine Showgrounds was back in March 1998.

• In the three Premiership contests between the clubs last term a total of 25 players were booked, 16 from Ballymena and nine from Coleraine.

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Ballymena United midfielder Josh Carson insists there is "no bad blood" between him and his former club Coleraine ahead of Friday night's meeting between the sides.

Carson left the Bannsiders earlier this summer after seven years with the club, joining fellow former Coleraine players Stephen O'Donnell and Aaron Jarvis in making the move to the Sky Blues.

And the midfielder is looking forward to his swift return to the Showgrounds on Friday evening.

"There’s no bad blood between me and Coleraine and I got on with the fans well," he told BBC Sport NI

"I’m a Ballymena player now so I’ll give 110% for the shirt and I’ll do all I can for Ballymena to win the game.

"I have a lot of friends up in Coleraine, but you put that aside when it comes to Friday night."

Sky Blues boss Jim Ervin is also relishing the first derby meeting of the season, which will be live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

Ervin said: "It's a derby game, live on TV, Friday night, so it makes for a really exciting game."

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Coleraine boss Dean Shiels says that his first home game in charge of the Bannsiders will be an "emotional day".

Shiels' side welcome derby rivals Ballymena United to the Showgrounds on Friday night, a game that will be live on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website.

"We’re really looking forward to playing at home and there is no better time to do that than a derby," Shiels told BBC Sport NI.

"It will be an emotional day for me and my family due to the strong connection I have to the club."

Coleraine began their season with a 1-1 draw against Shiels' former side Dungannon Swifts, whilst the Sky Blues were beaten 2-0 by Linfield.

Shiels acknowledged that Ballymena will provide a stern test for his side given their summer recruitment, which included the signings of former Coleraine players Josh Carson, Stephen O'Donnell and Aaron Jarvis.

"They’re proven Irish League players and Ballymena have gone out and signed them [the former Coleraine trio] and they have such good quality with Ben Kennedy and Carson," he explained.

"They’ve strengthened in a lot of areas, but we’ve got a lot of good players too and we’ll be ready for that game."

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Portadown have signed midfielder Ben Wylie from fellow Irish Premiership side Cliftonville.

The 22-year-old joined the Reds in January and made five appearances during his brief stint at the club.

He was not included in the squad as Cliftonville began their league campaign with a 1-0 victory against the Ports at Solitude on Sunday.

Wylie, a Northern Ireland U21 international, previously had spells at Celtic, Ballymena United and Swedish side Ytterhogdals.

In what was a busy day at Solitude, Jim Magilton's side brought in former Portsmouth striker Destiny Ojo.

Subject to international clearance, he will be available for Saturday's league fixture against Glenavon at Mourneview Park.

Meanwhile, Loughgall have resigned striker Jay Boyd on a season long loan from Crusaders.

Boyd spent the first half of last season on loan at the Villagers, registering seven goals in 22 games before he was recalled by the Crues.

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Larne boss Tiernan Lynch says he and his players will concentrate on the job in hand as they take a 1-0 lead into Thursday's Uefa Conference League third qualifying round home leg against Ballkani and not be distracted by the potential rewards for victory.

The Inver Park outfit produced a heroic defensive display in Kovoso as Matty Lusty's late goal earned a dramatic victory.

To put that result in context, Ballkani hammered Larne 7-1 on aggregate in Europe last season which included a 4-1 victory at Solitude.

If Larne can complete victory in the tie at Inver Park, it will put them one round away from clinching a prized place in the group stages of the competition which last year guaranteed clubs a minimum £3.5m.

And Larne's opposition in the fourth qualifying would be the losers of Thursday's tie between Lincoln Red Imps and Dinamo Minsk, with the Belarus club taking a 2-0 lead over the Gibraltar side going into their second leg.

However, Larne manager Lynch told BBC Sport Northern Ireland: "If you start looking that far ahead, you’ll forget what’s in front of you.

"The only thing we’re concentrating on now is Ballkani."

Lynch will be without Lee Bonis who played his final Larne game in the first leg before moving to Dutch club Ado Den Haag earlier this week.

"We wish Lee the very best and hope he goes on to have a fantastic career at the next level but it now opens the door for Matty [Lusty] and for Matty to go in and prove that he can be that replacement."

Lynch admits his side "rode our luck" over in Kosovo in a rearguard action but was thrilled by the defensive effort.

The Larne boss will now hope that infuses belief into his players for the second leg.

"It’s a hugely difficult game but we have to take confidence from last week.

"The biggest thing for all our Irish League clubs, us included, is believing we can play at this level and that we should belong at this level."

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Holders Glentoran will meet last year's beaten finalists Cliftonville in the semi-final of this year's Challenge Cup.

The Glens lifted the trophy for a fifth successive season last year as they defeated the Reds 3-0 at Windsor Park.

In the other semi-final, Lisburn Rangers, who were beaten by Cliftonville in this season's League Cup final, will take on Derry City.

Both games will kick-off at 19:30 BST on Friday 13 September, with neutral venues still to be decided.

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Larne striker Lee Bonis has joined Dutch second division side Ado Den Haag on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

The former Portadown forward joined Larne for a reported Irish League transfer fee of £100,000 in January 2022.

The 24-year-old netted 58 goals and contributed 28 assists in 118 games, forging a great partnership with fellow forward Andy Ryan as Larne won back-to-back Irish Premiership titles.

Bonis earned a call-up to the Northern Ireland squad in June last year for Euro qualifiers against Denmark and Kazakhstan, but is yet to win a senior cap.

Ado Den Haag finished fifth in the Eerste Division last season.

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After the opening round of Irish Premiership fixtures, BBC Sport NI summariser Philip Major has selected his Player of the Week.

"Normally I should plump for a centre-back or a full-back, but unusually I’m going to look up front," he said.

"On Saturday I had the pleasure of watching Curtis Allen do what Curtis Allen does. He is a fox in the box and scored a great goal early on which set the tone for Carrick, but I think he comes a close second.

"I would have to give it to a centre forward who hasn’t played a lot football in recent times, Ryan Curran."

Striker Curran, who scored the only goal goal in Cliftonville's 1-0 win over Portadown on Sunday, spent close to two years out with a groin injury that first plagued him in the 2022 League Cup final.

However, after surgery last November the 30-year-old returned to action in Cliftonville's Uefa Conference League second round qualifying games against Latvian side Auda.

“He’s coming back from a wretched injury, had a chance from the penalty spot, didn’t take it and showed great resilience to bounce back and do what he does best by tucking one away from about six yards out.

“Great for him - I don’t know if he has captained Cliftonville before, but he was captain for the day. He scored the goal, a great return for him and that’s ultimately sealed the points for his team."

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Portadown's new goalkeeper Aaron McCarey says there is "lots to work on" after his side's 1-0 defeat by Cliftonville on Sunday.

McCarey's league debut got off to the perfect start when he denied Ryan Curran's penalty. However, it was Curran who went on to score the only goal of the game.

"To come here and to lose 1-0 and be disappointed shows you what we feel as a team and how confident as a team we feel. Lots of positives, but also lots to work on.

"Solitude is always a tough place to come and not too many teams will get points here this year.

"First and foremost we have to secure our status in the Premiership as soon as possible, I think over the last couple of years the club has yo-yoed up and down and it needs a bit of stability."

McCarey signed for newly promoted Portadown after three years at Glentoran, who are his team's next opponents.

The 32-year-old keeper is labelling the fixture as "just another game".

"Glentoran are coming to town and there will be a big crowd there," he added.

"It's another game to look forward to and we will be putting hard yards in this week to make sure we are ready because it’ll be another tough challenge for us.

"Glentoran have made a lot of changes to their squad so they are a bit of an unknown quantity at the minute but we will do our homework during the week and be ready and, if we can bring a performance like we did today, we won’t be far away."

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Ryan Curran says playing in Cliftonville's 1-0 victory over Portadown was a "big step" for him as he returned to league action after a lengthy injury.

Curran had the chance to open his account for the season on the 18th minute, but his penalty was denied by Aaron McCarey.

However, he found the back of the net later on in the first half and netted the only goal of the game to secure all three points for the north Belfast side in their opening fixture.

“When you miss a penalty in a match it’s a hard one to take and it takes you a few minutes to step back and steady yourself, but thankfully we scored a brilliant goal," said Curran.

“Ronan Doherty played a brilliant pass to [Rory] Donnelly and Rory put it across the goal and I couldn’t miss to be honest, but it's great to get that goal and the monkey off your back."

The striker missed the majority of the 2022/23 season and the entirety of the 2023/24 campaign due to a groin injury.

“That’s a big step for me today playing 89-90 minutes. In terms of the team, it is well documented the players we have lost. It doesn’t change Jim Magilton’s mentality of what we can achieve.

“This club has got used to doing well - the last three years we have been challenging for the league up until the split, and in the 2022 season we were right up until the end.

“I think that has to be our aim to try and better last season and if a cup competition does come along we will certainly try and win that as well."

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Portadown manager Niall Currie believes his side had Cliftonville "rattled" and says they can take "huge credit" from their opening game defeat.

The home side's Ryan Curran netted the only goal of the game to secure the three points for the Irish Cup winners at Solitude.

“I think we take huge credit from today’s game. We had them on the back foot and we had them rattled in the last 10 minutes of the game.

“I say to the players all the time about the importance of staying in the game. It’s going to be a long, hard season and we are going to get our medicine like everyone else, but you have to dust yourself down now and go again.

“There were a lot of positives out of that game and we are not done yet, we have a few things that need done still."

Newly promoted Portadown struggled to test Cliftonville stopper David Odumosu until the final 10 minutes of the game with Currie acknowledging they are “a couple of areas short still”.

“We are getting another wide player hopefully this week so after that we are not too bad, we have good strength and depth,” Currie added.

“Unlike last year when we went too light on the squad and got myself into difficulties last Christmas, we definitely are not going to go too light this season.

"I think anybody that comes to Shamrock Park has to know that they are going to be in a game, that’s exactly what our mantra is going to be all season."

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Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton acknowledged it was a "nervy finish" to his side's 1-0 victory against Portadown in the opening Premiership fixture of the season.

“I thought it was an all round very good performance, but if you don’t put the ball in the back of the net and especially with the quality that Portadown have in terms of set pieces, it is always going to be a nervy finish and it proved to be.

"It’s a nervous day, the opening game, and I think it’s more important that you try and win the game and the three points are more important than anything else."

Ryan Curran, who is returning to league action after a lengthy spell out through injury, scored the only goal of the game on the 34th minute when he fired home from Rory Donnelly's pass.

"Ryan is an outstanding player and we didn’t have him for any of last year so having a player of that quality on your team is only going to boost your team," Magilton added.

The Reds have strengthened their squad during the summer, but Magilton hinted he wasn't done yet.

"I’ve liked all the signings, obviously, and they have done fantastically well and I intend to be busy right up until the end of the window.

"Young Axel [Piesold] got his first taste of football here and did well. That’s three points tucked away and that gets us up and running."