Irish League Football

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Portadown manager Niall Currie insists "common sense has to prevail at some stage" in terms of fixture planning as his team prepares for their third game in the space of a week.

The Ports travel to Inver Park on Friday (19:45 BST) seeking to bounce back from Tuesday's 2-0 home defeat by Ballymena United, following their first win of the season away to Dungannon Swifts on Saturday.

Larne also played in midweek, being forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at Cliftonville, but their planned game last weekend against Crusaders was postponed due to their involvement in Europe.

Currie feels his team have been put at a disadvantage this week with Larne's full-time status another factor counting against his players for a Friday game.

"I'm all for Friday night games but common sense has to prevail at some stage," he told BBC Sport NI after Tuesday's defeat.

"To ask part time footballers to play three games in six days, I'm baffled by it.

"Larne has been very clever. Their guys will be sitting watching analysis videos all day and my guys will come off the scaffolding roof and then head to Larne on Friday night.

"For me, certain circumstances need looked at and for us to be playing on a Friday night after another two-day turnaround is crazy stuff.

"Hopefully they will look at that in future, but all we can do is rest them up and see who is available on Friday. We know we're in for a tough night but you never know."

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The BBC will show the second leg of the Uefa Conference League play-off between Linfield and Shelbourne on Thursday, 28 August (19:45 BST).

The return game at Windsor Park in Belfast will be available to watch on the BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app.

Thursday's first leg will also be shown on the iPlayer, website and app, with coverage beginning at 19:40 BST (19:45 kick-off).

A place in the lucrative league phase of the competition is the prize on offer.

The teams have already met in European competition this term, having been paired together in the first round of Champions League qualifying in July.

Shelbourne ran out 2-1 aggregate victors on that occasion, winning the first leg 1-0 at Tolka Park, followed by a 1-1 draw at Windsor Park.

Since dropping into the Uefa Conference League, Linfield have seen off Lithuania's Zalgiris and Vikingur of the Faroe Islands in the second and third qualifying rounds of that competition.

Were they to overcome their Irish Premier Division opponents, David Healy's side would emulate the achievement of Larne, who became the first Irish Premiership side to progress to the group or league stages of a major European competition last season.

After defeating Linfield, Shelbourne lost to Qarabag of Azerbaijan in the Champions League second qualifying round and then fell to Croatian outfit Rijeka in the Europa League third qualifying round.

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Bangor manager Lee Feeney felt Matthew Ferguson's red card in the 3-1 defeat to Crusaders was "harsh" but had no issues with Stephen McGuinness' earlier dismissal.

McGuinness was shown red for an off the ball tangle before Ferguson followed three minutes later for a heavy challenge.

Despite finishing with nine players, Feeney was happy with how his players stuck to the task and went close to an equaliser before Crusaders striker Fraser Bryden put the issue beyond doubt in added time.

"I felt one was harsh and shouldn't have been a red card but the other was a red card," Feeney told BBC Sport NI.

"The second should never have been a red card - that is disappointing because the poor fella misses a lot of games.

"It was that type of game: ding dong, tense and heated. In saying that, we worked our socks off and even down to nine men we thought we had that equaliser. The boys gave everything, so I'm pleased with that and it gives us something to work on going into Saturday."

The Seasiders had been strong defensively in their opening two games, but Feeney felt those standards slipped on Tuesday.

Despite being the league's new boys, there is no shortage of ambition and the Bangor boss said his players were "hurt" by their second defeat of the season.

"We just didn't defend like I know we can and if we did, we would have had a chance," Feeney added.

"We are only in the Premiership and get three points the first game. We're disappointed to lose 1-0 at Glentoran and really hurt today to lose to Crusaders, so that tells you where our mindset is at.

"I felt we did enough to get something out of the game. I don't think we were good enough in both boxes, conceded two silly goals and then weren't ruthless enough at the other end which cost you the game."

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Crusaders striker Fraser Bryden said he would "go to sleep" with the match ball as his first career hat-trick propelled Crusaders to a 3-1 win at Bangor.

The 21-year-old Scot arrived at Seaview from Ayr United in July and took just two minutes to open his account for the club in last week's defeat to Carrick Rangers.

However, it was a much happier night for the north Belfast side on Tuesday as they came from a goal behind at Clandeboye Park with Bryden to the fore, but it also took two penalty saves from goalkeeper Musa Dibaga to see them home against the Seasiders who finished with nine men.

"It was an eventful game to say the least," Bryden told BBC Sport NI afterwards.

"I'm delighted to come away with the three points, which is the most important thing. It's a tough place to come and even better to get my first professional hat-trick, so a happy night. I'm going to tuck it (ball) in and go to sleep with it tonight.

"That was my second competitive game for the Crues and I'm enjoying so far. Hopefully every game isn't that eventful and we can tighten up defensively and not concede sloppy goals."

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Larne interim manager Gary Haveron has told BBC Sport NI that "shock" was his primary emotion on hearing the news that the club's previous boss Nathan Rooney had parted company with the Irish Premiership club on Monday.

Haveron had been put in temporary control of first-team matters for the second half of last season after it emerged that Rooney did not possess the necessary qualifications to lead the team into European competition.

The Englishman was reinstated as manager in May after enrolling for his Uefa Pro Licence, with Haveron reverting to the position of assistant manager, but the Larne native will now take the helm for a second spell at his hometown club before a permanent appointment is made.

"Shock was my initial reaction whenever I got the call to say what had happened. I think that was the initial reaction of everyone at the club," said Haveron.

"Stability is really important now and hopefully that's what I can bring to the club for the time being, just get round the boys and support them.

"We've got a fantastic set of players at the club and the infrastructure is absolutely first class. It has been a turbulent 12 months but we're looking to move into calmer waters and hopefully I can help in that respect in the coming weeks."

Speaking after Larne's 1-1 draw with Cliftonville at Solitude, his first game back in interim charge, Haveron expanded that Rooney and Larne's owners were not on the same page.

"It's just unfortunate that both sides didn't see eye to eye and parted ways by mutual consent. Nathan will go on and have a very successful career – he's an outstanding coach and a great character.

"The club will now align with the owners' vision, and we respect that. We go forward in the direction they want."

Haveron added that he was happy to step into the breach again following Rooney's exit and did not rule out wanting to take the job on a permanent basis.

"When the call came in and I was asked 'was I prepared to step in', the answer will always be 'yes'. I do what I can to support the club in any way, shape or form.

"It's obviously a big job in terms of the Irish League and a really attractive proposition for someone out there if that's what the club want to do.

"While I'm here it's my job to prepare the team, to get them organised and hopefully get the results on the football pitch."

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BBC Sport NI is to livestream Linfield's Uefa Conference League Play-off first leg game against Shelbourne at Tolka Park on Thursday, 21 August.

Coverage of the match between last season's League of Ireland winners and Irish Premiership champions on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website will begin at 19:40 BST.

The second leg of the tie will be staged at Windsor Park the following week, with a place in the lucrative league phase of the competition the prize on offer for the winners.

The teams have already met in European competition this term, having been paired together in the first round of Champions League qualifying in July.

Shelbourne ran out 2-1 aggregate victors on that occasion, winning the first leg 1-0 at Tolka Park, followed by a 1-1 draw at Windsor Park.

Since dropping into the Uefa Conference League, Linfield have seen off Zalgiris of Lithuania and Vikingur of the Faroe Islands in the second and third qualifying rounds of that competition.

Were they to overcome their Irish Premier Division opponents, David Healy's side would emulate the achievement of Larne, who became the first Irish League side to progress to the group or league stages of a major European competition last season.

After defeating Linfield, Shelbourne lost to Qarabag of Azerbaijan in the Champions League second qualifying round and then fell to Croatian outfit Rijeka in the Europa League third qualifying round.

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Glenavon manager Paddy McLaughlin will not be pushing the panic button despite a stuttering start to the new season.

The Lurgan Blues travel to the Oval on Tuesday (19:45 BST) to face a Glentoran team on maximum points.

On Saturday, Danny Gibson's goal just before the break was enough for Carrick Rangers to inflict a second loss of the campaign on Glenavon.

Despite that result leaving his side still in search of their opening points, McLaughlin feels a result in east Belfast can kick-start their season.

"There's only two games gone and anybody looking at the league table now would be very foolish," he told BBC Sport NI after Saturday's 1-0 loss at Carrick

"Nobody wants to be bottom, but there is a long way to go and a lot of points to be won and lost in a 38-game season.

"The Glens are off to a flier, as you'd expect. They've a good side and it's always a difficult task going to the Oval.

"It's a good game to look forward to and a good game to bounce back, so a good way to get our season up and running if we get a result."

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Jim Magilton has called on the Cliftonville support to rally behind his team for Tuesday's game against Larne at Solitude (19:45 BST, live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website).

The Reds got on the board with a 0-0 draw away to Coleraine on Saturday, but saw Rhyss Campbell and Luke Conlan depart with injuries which leaves them doubts for the visit of the Invermen.

Larne had a rest weekend following Thursday's trip to the Azores for their Conference League qualifier second leg against Santa Clara, which proved to be Nathan Rooney's last game in charge.

Speaking before Rooney departed Larne on Monday, Magilton said he was impressed with their performance in a scoreless draw away from home and has urged his players to step it up a level from Saturday's draw against the Bannsiders.

"They (Larne) are an outstanding team, had a wonderful result in Europe in terms of away performance," he told BBC Sport NI.

"They are going to be fresh and ready for us, but so will we. We're at home, we have to go again and show the same sort of character we showed today and the same tenacity. We have to play better with the ball because we have quality players.

"We are going to need the backing of our supporters because there will be a few tired bodies."

Larne have had the upper hand recently against Cliftonville, winning four of the past league encounters. The Reds, however, came out on top when they last locked horns in January's BetMcLean Cup semi-final.

LAST FIVE IRISH PREMIERSHIP MEETINGS

Larne 2-0 Cliftonville (10 January 2025)

Larne 1-1 Cliftonville (1 December 2024)

Cliftonville 1-3 Larne (27 September 2024)

Larne 8-1 Cliftonville (13 April 2024)

Cliftonville 0-2 Larne (2 April 2024)

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Niall Currie has urged his Portadown players to make Shamrock Park a "fortress" as they prepare to host Ballymena United on Tuesday (19:45 BST).

The Ports banked their first points of the new campaign with an impressive 4-1 win away to Dungannon Swifts with Eamon Fyfe and Joshua Ukek on target in the first half before a second half brace from Jordan Gibson sealed victory.

That win followed an opening day home loss against Glentoran and Currie is keen of replicating last year's form at Shamrock Park when they lost in the league just four times.

Ballymena sat out the weekend as their game against Linfield was postponed, but the Portadown manager noted their opening win away to Glenavon and wary of the threat of Jim Ervin's side.

"We're delighted to get off the mark," he told BBC Sport NI following Saturday's win.

"Sometimes you look at the fixtures and wonder where the first points are going to come from, so this was really pleasing.

"Ballymena are up next, and they've started strongly with a win over Glenavon. It'll be another tough game, no question.

"But the key for us is Shamrock Park. Last year, we made it a difficult place for teams to come, and that's exactly what we want to do again. We want to create a fortress here, somewhere nobody wants to visit."

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Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree has urged his players to "embrace the challenge" as they head to Coleraine in search of their first league points on Tuesday (19:45 BST).

Last season's Irish Cup winners have made a slow start to the season, losing by three goals to Linfield and Portadown, but McAree identified some shoots of light in the second half of Saturday's home defeat to the Ports.

However, they will have to do it without captain Gael Bigiramana and Leo Alves who were sent off at the weekend, while goalkeeper Declan Dunne is serving the second of a two-game suspension.

"Coleraine are a very good side with very good players," McAree told BBC Sport NI after Saturday's 4-1 home defeat.

"They have the resources to compete in the market, and they have title ambitions. It's going to be a challenge.

"We'll be going there with three players suspended after just two games, which is disappointing. But we'll go and embrace the challenge, see if we can get something, and try to bounce back."

Swifts trailed 2-1 at the break on Saturday with McAree disappointed by their level of performance but although Portadown would add two more in the second half following Alves' dismissal, the Dungannon manager was happier with how his players applied themselves.

"We talked last year about being competitive, and the one thing we weren't in the first half was competitive - that's unacceptable," he said.

"But we reshaped at half-time, made a few changes, and the boys who came on did exceptionally well. Everyone else stepped up in the second half.

"If we can keep producing that same level of performance we showed after the break, we'll be okay."

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Bangor manager Lee Feeney says the nature of his side's performances in their opening two matches of the Irish Premiership season have been pleasing for him.

Last year's Championship winners began life in the top flight with a 3-1 win over Cliftonville at Clandeboye but were edged out 1-0 by Glentoran at the Oval on Saturday.

Next up for Feeney's charges is the visit of Crusaders on Tuesday night.

"The big thing for me is performances. The last two games we have had good performances and that's important to me.

"If you can pick up points on the way then that's even better. We'll take the positives, learn from it and grow.

"I'm really happy with the attitude of the players and proud of the performances they put in.

"We'll look forward to Crusaders coming to Clandeboye on Tuesday night, which will be another very tough game."

Bangor defended resolutely for much of the weekend meeting with the Glens but Ryan Cooney nipped in to score the winner after Kyle Owens' attempted back-pass fell short.

"It was unfortunate the way we lost with the goal we conceded.

"They put us under pressure, especially in the first half, but I thought we defended really, really well.

"We had a good shape, we knew we would have to do that today. Big pitch, we had to try and make it as small as we could.

"They have quality all over the park. They were able to play through the thirds, get it wide, so we had to work really, really hard to try and keep the clean sheet."

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Glentoran manager Declan Devine says his side must become accustomed to winning their home games as they prepare to host Glenavon at the Oval on Tuesday night.

The Glens' home form was disappointing last term but they managed to follow up their 1-0 win on the road against Portadown with a victory by a similar scoreline on their own patch against Premiership new boys Bangor on Saturday.

Summer signing Ryan Cooney scored the only goal of the game in the success over the Seasiders.

"It's a good start, but we've got to dust down and be ready for Tuesday," reflected Devine in an interview with BBC Sport NI after the match.

"Every time we play here [at home] we've got to expect to win games. That's something we have to look at now and is something we can do again on Tuesday.

"It's very early in the season. A lot of clubs, including ourselves, are finding their way.

"We have to look to get better than Saturday. I felt that on Saturday we were better than last week and I hope that on Tuesday night we are better than today again."

The Glens boss was satisfied with his team's performance against Bangor but expects improvement in attack.

"Really pleased with the application of the players and how we moved the ball and the control that they put into the game. Just looking for a little more in the final third but that will come.

"I would have liked a wee bit more penetration, especially the couple of chances we had in the first half. Their keeper made a wonder save from Jordan Stewart.

"For all the dominance we had I would have liked to add a couple of goals. But it's a new group playing a new way and I have to give every single player that played a lot of credit."

Devine is happy with the make-up of his squad.

"We've assembled a squad but we've high-level players not available. We've a lot of competition, a lot of flexibility and a lot of quality players.

"I'm a greedy person and I want us to put teams to bed a wee bit earlier. At the same time if you'd have offered me six points from two difficult fixtures I'd have taken it."