Irish League Football

Banbridge Rangers manager Jeff Brady says the realisation that his club will face Irish Cup holders Cliftonville in the fifth round of this season's competition "will probably take a couple of days to sink in".

Mid Ulster Intermediate A side Rangers are taking part in the fifth round for the first time, having beaten Queen's University in the previous round.

"To be a team like Banbridge Rangers to get here for the first time and to be drawn out against Cliftonville is a big deal," Brady told BBC Sport NI.

"I’ll tell the players to go out and play with freedom, there’s no pressure on us.

"We’ve done the hard work so as long as they go out and enjoy themselves and give a good account of themselves I’ll be happy."

Brady added that he hoped everyone involved with the club would enjoy the day as a reward for their endeavours.

"Days like this are for everybody, the whole club, not just the players and myself and the coaching staff.

"The club has been going for 20 years and for some of those 20 years it has been the same people behind the scenes driving it so that will be for them.

"It’s a home-based club, full of families, full of people who put in those hard hours every week that people don’t see. It will be a big day for those people certainly."

Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton is looking forward to beginning the defence of the cup.

"We got a home draw, that’s all you can really wish for, against a team that deserves so much credit for getting there.

“They’ll be more than welcome [to Solitude] but we’ve got to go and win it.

“We won’t underestimate them, we’ll give them our due care and attention, as we do every opponent, and be really focused. It’s a massive day in the calendar and we’re looking forward to it."

Image source, Inpho

Cliftonville will begin their Irish Cup defence with a fifth-round tie against Mid Ulster Intermediate A side Banbridge Rangers at Solitude in January.

The Reds beat Linfield in last season's final to lift the trophy for the first time since 1979, while Rangers are set to appear in the fifth round for the first time. having beaten Queen's University in the previous round.

While there are no all-Premiership encounters, the draw produced two derbies with Annagh United hosting Mid Ulster neighbours Portadown and H&W Welders entertaining east Belfast rivals Glentoran.

New Larne manager Nathan Rooney will take his side to Limavady United with Linfield hosting Wellington Rec and Coleraine at home to Armagh City.

Ards, who stunned Crusaders in last year's fifth round, will travel to Ballymena United while the Crues will face the winners of the fourth-round match between Knockbreda and Banbridge Town.

Stephen Baxter, who won four Irish Cups as Crues boss, will manage Carrick for the first time in the competition at home to Newry City.

High-flying Championship leaders Bangor host Newington, Institute take on Loughgall while Belfast Celtic host Moyola Park and Glenavon are at home to Dundela.

Islandmagee or Ballymacash Rangers - who face each other in the fourth round this weekend - will host Ballinamallard United.

The ties are scheduled to be played on the weekend of 3-4 January.

Irish Cup fifth round draw

Annagh Utd v Portadown

Bangor v Newington

Carrick Rangers v Newry City

Linfield v Wellington Rec

Dollingstown v Ballyclare Comrades

Coleraine v Armagh City

Limavady Utd v Larne

Dungannon Swifts v Rathfriland Rangers

Knockbreda/Banbridge Town v Crusaders

Institute v Loughgall

Islandmagee/Ballymacash v Ballinamallard

Ballymena Utd v Ards

Cliftonville v Banbridge Rangers

Belfast Celtic v Moyola Park

Glenavon v Dundela

H&W Welders v Glentoran

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Coleraine boss Dean Shiels said that the goals his side gave away in their 2-1 loss against Crusaders were "unacceptable".

Jordan Stewart opened the scoring with a looping header from a corner before Kieran Offord capitalised on a defensive mix-up to score a second.

Matthew Shevlin pulled a goal back before Kyle McClelland was sent off and Shiels was frustrated with the individual mistakes made.

"We are disappointed as to how the game unfolded particularly in the first half, it was just unacceptable the goals we gave away," he told BBC Sport NI.

"I can say the same about the red card it was preventable and it’s extremely frustrating we put a lot of detail into what we do in training, but you can’t control individual mistakes."

Shiels was pleased with the response from Coleraine in the second half but recognised that the mistakes left them with too much of a mountain to climb.

He hopes the game will act as a steep learning curve for his young side.

"Taking those [mistakes] out of the game, once we went down to 10 men, I thought we were creating chances and showed togetherness to try get back in the game," Shiels continued.

"The goalkeeper and the centre backs are 21 and you find with young players you get inconsistencies, and you have to preserved with them and help them improve, but we need to learn fast as it’s costing us points."

Image source, Inpho

Crusaders manager Declan Caddell said his side "gave everything" as they held on to beat Coleraine 2-1 at the Showgrounds.

First half goals from Jordan Stewart and Kieran Offord secured the hard-fought victory for the Crues, despite Matthew Shevlin pulling a goal back in the second half.

And Caddell was delighted with his side's response to last weekend's 3-0 defeat against Carrick Rangers.

"It’s a tough place to come, Coleraine have the best home form in the league so it was always going to be difficult," he told BBC Sport NI.

"The last few times we have played them it could have gone either way but to come up here and put in that performance was great especially after the last couple of games which have been disappointing."

Caddell was pleased with their ruthless streak in the first half and also praised their ability to see out the game.

"The players gave everything so I’m happy. We wanted to get on the front foot in the first half and we certainly did that," he added.

"We went in 2-0 and it could have been more. Second half we knew Coleraine would throw everything at us which they did, and they caused us problems.

"The players dug in and worked hard for each other and a couple of good saves by Johnny Tuffey, it was a bit nervy, but I thought we deserved it."

Image source, Presseye

Carrick Rangers manager Stephen Baxter says he thought his side was the better team and was unfortunate to lose 1-0 to Dungannon Swifts at Taylors Avenue on Saturday.

James Knowles netted a late winner for the visitors.

"I thought we played really well. I thought we were the team that was on the front foot for most of the day," Baxter told BBC Sport NI.

"We played the better football, we got into their box time in number and were the team applying all the pressure.

"To concede a goal against the run of play was very difficult. It was a very soft goal and a very disappointing goal to concede from our point of view."

Carrick lie 10th in the Premiership table, level on points with 11th-placed Glenavon, and four ahead of bottom club Loughgall.

"The level of performance since I came in has been nothing short of excellent and the workrate today was exactly the same.

"I've nothing but praise for what these guys are giving. You get a day when the break of the ball goes against you and you lose the game," added the former Crusaders boss.

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Loughgall boss Dean Smith said he cannot be "too critical" of his injury-hit side after their 4-0 defeat against Cliftonville.

Smith's side were undone by a Joe Gormley hat-trick and a goal from Rory Hale, which condemned the Villagers to their third consecutive league defeat.

But Smith believes a number of injuries was a mitigating factor to the heavy nature of the defeat.

"It was a really difficult afternoon, but it is very hard to be critical of the players given the number of bodies we had out, we had eight first teamers missing so to put in a performance the way we did, I can’t be too critical," he told BBC Sport NI.

Smith admits that his side were undone by a devastating 13-minute spell in the second half where Cliftonville scored three goals, like they did in 12 minutes at Lakeview Park in their 5-0 win earlier in the season.

"We were 1-0 down at half-time, but we were well in the game, and I thought we could have nicked something, but those 13 minutes killed us and that’s the story of our season," he added.

"They did it in 12 minutes at our place in a similar thing, but the attitude and character I can’t fault."

Image source, Presseye

Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree praised the battling qualities of his side after watching them overcome Carrick Rangers 1-0 at Taylors Avenue on Saturday.

James Knowles scored a late winner in a match which rarely rose above the mediocre in quality but saw plenty of endeavour from both teams.

"We knew it wasn’t going to be pretty, the overnight rain didn’t help, although the pitch was in tremendous condition so fair play to Carrick," McAree told BBC Sport NI.

"We knew it was going to be a battle and we had to fight for everything that we got and keep it tight at the back to give ourselves a chance.

"I thought there was always going to be one goal that decided it."

The Stangmore Park club has reacted to a three-game losing run by securing successive wins over Glenavon and Carrick without conceding a goal.

"It was important we got out of that rut of three defeats in a row and now we’ve kept two clean sheets and clean sheets win games.

"This season we haven’t conceded as many goals and that’s given us the chance to earn more points – we haven’t scored as many but as long as we’re not conceding we’re giving ourselves an opportunity to stay as close to the top for as long as we can."

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Cliftonville boss Jim Magilton praised his side's attitude in their 4-0 victory against Loughgall at Solitude.

Joe Gormley scored a 17th Cliftonville hat-trick with Rory Hale adding a late fourth to help the Reds get back to winning ways.

And Magilton was delighted with the response from his side following last weekend's frustrating 1-0 home defeat against Ballymena United.

"Really good day at the office bouncing back from last week’s disappointment," he told BBC Sport NI.

"We talk about standards, and we slipped below them last week, so I was delighted with how we approached the game, our attitude was spot on from the first whistle, we were pretty dominant."

Magilton singled out Gormley, who he is running out of superlatives to describe after another clinical display.

"Joe Gormley simply doesn’t disappoint, some of his finishes were fantastic, so it was a great win for us," Magilton added.

The Reds boss was pleased to give Odhran Casey his first minutes in a Cliftonville shirt since going off injured in the Irish Cup final in May.

Magilton also handed 15-year-old Coran Madden his debut, which he marked with an assist for Hale's goal.

"We're delighted with Casey, he has had to work so hard [to come back] from a pretty horrific injury, so we’re happy to get him minutes.

"Coran is a wonderful player, great talent and destined to be a footballer and we thought it was a great opportunity to bring him on."

Image source, Pacemaker Press

New Glenavon boss Paddy McLaughlin says there is "a lot of hard work to be done" after their 1-0 derby defeat against Portadown.

Ahu Obhakhan's early goal was enough for the victory for the Ports and it is now seven top flight games without a win for the Lurgan Blues.

But McLaughlin was encouraged by what he saw in his first league game in charge at Shamrock Park.

"Disappointing result but it’s a very good performance for large periods, we controlled the game and we came up short in the final third," he told BBC Sport NI.

"That is something to work on but there are good signs there."

The former Cliftonville boss admitted that it was a "frantic week" at the club following his appointment last Saturday as he replaced Stephen McDonnell at the helm.

And he believes that he can turn things around at Mourneview Park after their difficult start to the campaign.

"I’m glad to be back it was a long time out travelling around and just watching games so it’s good to be back," he added.

"That’s all the niceties out of the way, now we’re into work and there’s a lot of hard work to be done and we’re looking forward to getting stuck in.

"The signs are very good, if we can keep improving week by week, we can pick up points."

Image source, Presseye

Portadown manager Niall Currie praised the character shown by his team after they defeated Glenavon 1-0 in Saturday's Irish Premiership derby at Shamrock Park.

Ahu Obhakhan scored what turned out to be the winning goal after six minutes of a fiercely contested game between the mid Ulster rivals.

“I thought we didn’t get off to the best of starts. I thought we were a wee bit sluggish out of the gates but the goal calmed us down," Currie told BBC Sport NI.

“It was an evenly matched game. I thought both sides showed great endeavour.

“We were a wee bit off it today, we weren’t at our very best, but what we had in abundance was character and we had strong guys who went into the trenches for us today.

“We had loads of desire and enthusiasm but we could have done with a bit more quality to our play."

Currie was pleased with the performance of goalkeeper Aaron McCarey, who helped repel the threat of the Lurgan Blues with some fine saves.

“Aaron McCarey is the best in the league in my opinion. Whenever you need to dig in and you need big saves he’s the guy for it.

"He’s a wonderful leader in the changing room as well and a real character."

Richard Petrie
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Pacemaker

Coleraine manager Dean Shiels says his side's top marksman Matthew Shevlin is one of the players who is "flourishing" in the full-time environment that the club has established for the first time this season.

The former Linfield and Ballymena United frontman again finds himself in the upper echelons of the Irish Premiership goalscoring charts with 12 league goals so far this term, his latest contribution a double in the Bannsiders' 4-0 win over Loughgall in his side's last outing.

Shiels' side lie seventh in the Premiership on the back of three wins from their last four league outings.

"There’s no doubt he’s one of the best forwards in the league," enthused Shiels of his in-form prolific striker.

"He is a threat constantly and we’re very lucky to have him. The hardest part of football is putting the ball in the net and he’s certainly doing that at the moment.

"He’s a nightmare to play against for opponents. We slightly adjusted certain elements of how we attacked in recent games to try and put the ball in the box earlier and he’s thriving off that."

'A pleasure to work with and coach'

The Coleraine boss lauds Shevlin's approach to the game in both matches and training.

"He’s a pleasure to work with and coach. We’re always doing extra in regards to his finishing and his decision-making in the final third.

"We do individual analysis with him about his hold-up play – he’s one that has really flourished in relation to turning full-time.

"He had a very good career and job but his appetite to become a professional footballer was huge. You can see that in the way he plays, he’s infectious, he’s a massive team player."

Shiels hopes his side can continue their upward trajectory of results as they approach the busy Christmas season.

"I think there’s been a shift in performances, a shift in mentality and then a shift in results. I think we’ve got a bit of momentum and we want to kick on now.

“Confidence is high and the league is so congested that if you can put a run together you can really benefit from that."

'Using hurt as motivation'

The Ballycastle Road club face Crusaders in their next top flight encounter on Sunday and are keen to avenge 2-1 defeats away to Declan Caddell's charges in the league in October and the last 16 of the BetMcLean Cup in November.

"The two performances against Crusaders were very good but we got nothing from them and that’s something we want to correct," emphasised Shiels.

"Seaview is a difficult to place to go to but hopefully at home it will be a different story and we can play on the front foot and try and get one over on them this time.

"We have to use that hurt that we had of Crusaders beating us twice as motivation to put it right on Sunday."

Image source, Presseye

The Irish Premiership game between Ballymena United and Larne has been postponed after the pitch at Ballymena Showgrounds failed a Saturday morning pitch inspection.

The playing surface on Warden Street fell victim of the heavy overnight rain.

The pitch at Shamrock Park was reviewed at 11:00 GMT before the scheduled mid Ulster derby between Portadown and Glenavon at 15:00 and was deemed playable.

There was also an inspection of the pitch at Taylors Avenue at 10:30 GMT on Saturday morning ahead of Carrick Rangers' meeting with Dungannon Swifts, when the playing surface was also found to be playable, so that match goes ahead.

Saturday's other 15:00 game sees Cliftonville face Loughgall at Solitude.

The weekend's top flight action began on Friday night as Glentoran defeated Linfield 1-0 at the Oval, while Coleraine host Crusaders on Sunday at 12:30 GMT.

Image source, Inpho

Linfield manager David Healy felt his side lacked the necessary "composure" in front of goal during their 1-0 defeat to Glentoran at the Oval on Friday night.

The hosts' captain Marcus Kane had smashed in the opener just before half-time but Declan Devine's side were reduced to 10 men with more than half an hour to play when James Douglas was shown a second yellow card.

The Blues piled on the pressure but could not make the most of their dominance in the second half.

"We didn't show enough composure, enough understanding of what type of finish was needed in the final third," Healy said.

"That's the frustration. There were more than enough opportunities to at least get level.

"The players, I feel as if there's enough quality in the final third of the pitch. 

"But when it gets to moments like tonight, it's about that split-second decision - do you go hard? Low? High? Whatever type of finish was needed, we didn't get it right tonight."

Healy said his side "lacked the intensity" and gave up a "really soft goal" in the first half.

After his side's second below-par derby showing of the season - the Glens were 3-1 victors at Windsor Park last month - Healy refused to make any excuses for the result despite a number of penalty claims waved away in the second half.

"Ifs and buts. I don't want to make excuses, I won't," he said of the potential spot-kicks.

"We had enough ball and we had enough time in the final third [to equalise] and we didn't do that."

Image source, Press Eye

Glentoran boss Declan Devine praised the character of his team as they held on for 1-0 win over leaders Linfield despite playing for much of the second half with 10 men.

Marcus Kane put the Oval hosts in front late in the first half before teenager James Douglas was dismissed on 58 minutes for two yellow cards.

Linfield pressed for an equaliser but the Glens held firm to earn three points and move up to third.

"It's massively pleasing - we showed great character and a great willingness to dig in," said Devine.

"A really good Linfield team threw everything at us so to keep that clean sheet was massive."

It completed a double over their Big Two rivals after the Glens won at Windsor Park last month.

Friday night's victory was also a major boost after last weekend's 2-0 home defeat by Portadown.

"I said before the game that we needed to give the fans something to shout about on the back of the disappointing result last week.

"When the players are giving everything the fans will get behind us and when the fans get behind us in difficult moments it's a very difficult place to play.

"I think it was a massive effort from the club, not just the team, to get across the line with 10 men and that was the most pleasing thing about it."