Irish League Football

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Glentoran manager Declan Devine says the level of performance was "unacceptable" in his side's 2-0 defeat to Portadown at the Oval.

Late goals from Shay McCartan and Ryan Mayse sealed victory for the Ports as Glentoran dropped from third to seventh in the Irish Premiership table.

"There's no shying away from it. It was a poor performance from us," Devine told BBC Sport NI after the game.

"I was really disappointed with us on the ball today. I didn’t think we were free flowing at all.

"We’ve had a bad day but individually and collectively it wasn’t there today, and that’s the most disappointing things for me apart from the result."

McCartan's opener came from the penalty spot with eight minutes remaining before Mayse completed the Ports first victory at the Oval in 11 years with the final kick of the game.

While Devine admitted he did not think it was a penalty, he conceded it was not the reason for the defeat.

"I didn’t think we could get much worse in the second half to be honest because the first half performance was unacceptable.

"I don’t think it’s a penalty but I'm not going to stand here and blame the referee for us losing the game because we were more than responsible ourselves for losing the game.

"The inconsistency is something that has to be addressed and we can't have that level of performance. It's unacceptable."

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Ballymena United manager Jim Ervin praised his players for their stubborn rearguard action in Saturday's 1-0 win over Cliftonville at Solitude.

The Sky Blues had to soak up pressure from the home side before Andy Scott's 70th-minute winner which elevated them to third place in the Premiership table, behind the Reds on goal difference.

"I thought it was a really difficult game. I thought we were under pressure for the majority of it. You expect that when you come to Cliftonville and you have to be resolute in defence and brave and you have to enjoy being under the cosh.

"You have to ride your luck at times and enjoy defending.

"We had no passengers – every player stuck to their task and worked their socks off and did their jobs."

The victory ended a run of four straight top flight defeats for Ervin's charges.

"I'm so pleased for everyone at the club as it’s been a difficult couple of weeks.

"We’ve worked hard on the training pitch and behind the scenes and we got our just rewards."

Livewire winger Scott is one of a contingent of players who joined the Braidmen from derby rivals Coleraine in the summer.

"Andy has scored a tremendous goal and I’m so pleased for him.

"He’s a hard working player, he never stops, the amount of energy that he has, and we don’t always see the benefit of it going forward. We see a lot defensively."

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Paul Heatley has heaped praise on manager Stephen Baxter after Carrick Rangers' comprehensive 3-0 win over their former club Crusaders.

Both player and manager left the Seaview outfit this summer, and in their first match-up against their old employers since leaving, they comfortably won all three points.

Heatley scored twice in the victory with Emmett McGuckin scoring Rangers' other goal as they moved up to tenth in the Irish Premiership table.

"He's had a massive impact and I’m probably the best versed on that," Heatley said of Baxter after the game.

"I've played with him my whole career so personally it’s very simple for me but the other players have taken to it like ducks to water.

"You can see the togetherness of the players and fighting for each other. The performances over the last few weeks have been tremendous and we just haven’t been getting the results but today we did."

The victory was Carrick's first win in four weeks after three draws and one defeat.

"The last few weeks we've been playing good football but not killing games off which has been really frustrating," Heatley admitted.

"It can creep into players mind so seeing the second goal go in gave us a bit of breathing space.

"Going in a half-time we know 2-0 could be the most dangerous score in football so we had to go out and play like we were a goal behind and keeping doing what we did the first half, and we got our rewards again."

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Ballymena United have announced the signing of Derry City captain Patrick McEleney, who will join the club in January.

The 32-year-old, who has won four Irish Premier Division titles in his career, is a former Sunderland youth player and also featured for Oldham Athletic in League One.

Having made over 300 appearances for Derry City across two spells, McEleney departure from the Brandywell comes just 24 hours after brother Shane also left to join Glentoran.

Ballymena manager Jim Ervin said the signing was an "incredible boost" for the club.

"His experience and winning mentality will be invaluable as we continue our exciting project," Ervin said on Ballymena United's X account., external

“Signing a player of Patrick’s calibre is an incredible boost for the club. He is a top-class footballer, widely respected across the game."

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Carrick Rangers v Crusaders (Saturday, 15:00 GMT, coverage on Sportsound)

This one won't be short of a few goals with both teams scoring freely at the minute. With Stephen Baxter up against his former team it's going to be an exciting one but I think Crusaders will be the ones to get over the line and take the points back to Seaview.

Prediction: 2-3

Cliftonville v Ballymena United (Saturday, 15:00 GMT, coverage on Sportsound)

Jim Magilton's team are starting to heat up. They're scoring plenty and not conceding too many goals while Ballymena have come under pressure recently and have struggled to find the back of the net.

Prediction: 3-0

Dungannon Swifts v Glenavon (Saturday, 15:00 GMT, coverage on Sportsound)

Glenavon are another team struggling to score and I think they're definitely finding it difficult at the moment. Rodney McAree has his team playing a good style of football and they'll be going into the game high in confidence.

Prediction: 2-1

Glentoran v Portadown (Saturday, 15:00 GMT, coverage on Sportsound)

I'm not 100% sure which way this goes. Glentoran have done okay recently, and the same can be said for Portadown but I'll back my home town team to take the win.

Prediction: 2-3

Loughgall v Coleraine (Saturday, 15:00 GMT, coverage on Sportsound)

I'd say these are the games Oran Kearney needs to win to be a force in the league. They're slightly inconsistent, but a young team in progression and Loughgall will make them fight for it I'm sure.

Predication: 1-2

Larne v Linfield (Saturday, 17:30 GMT, live on on BBC iPlayer & BBC Sport NI website)

Larne are going into this one off the back of a good win in the cup, but the league is so important for them. If David Healy can find a result at Inver Park, it'll put a lot more pressure on Larne. A sign of a good team is when they continue to win, even if they're not playing the best, and I think that's what's happening with Linfield at the minute.

Prediction: 1-2

Join Thomas with Michael McNamee on Sportsound this Saturday from 14:00 GMT on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website.

Image source, Glentoran

Glentoran have signed former Derry City defender Shane McEleney on an 18-month contract.

The 33-year-old will officially join the Glens in January after the expiration of his contract with the Candystripes.

McEleney who won two FAI Cups during two different spells with Derry, the first of those in 2012 under current Glens boss Declan Devine.

He has also played for Finn Harps, Larne, St Patrick's Athletic and Ottawa Fury.

His last game for his hometown club was Sunday's FAI Cup defeat against Drogheda United.

Speaking to Glentoran's club website about the signing, manager Devine said that McEleney brings "a wealth of experience" to the east Belfast side.

"His quality on the ball, defensive ability and leadership skills will make him an invaluable asset to our squad," Devine added.

"I’ve had the privilege of working with Shane before and I know how driven and committed he is to success. He will play a pivotal role in what we’re building here."

McEleney expressed his delight at joining the club who sit third in the Irish Premiership table.

"The club is a sleeping giant with a proud history, and I want to play a part in helping the club return to winning silverware.

“I’ve fully bought into the vision here and am motivated to contribute to what Declan and the team are building."

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Cliftonville striker Caitlin McGuinness has been named October's player of the month by the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association.

McGuinness scored a hat-trick as Cliftonville defeated Lisburn Rangers 5-0 in the Women's Irish Cup final at Windsor Park.

The 22-year-old also netted in the 6-0 victory over Women's Premiership rivals Glentoran, which was the decisive win in the title race.

McGuinness netted 14 goals as Cliftonville won all 16 of their league matches to end the season with a perfect record.

Cliftonville completed the treble with the league title and Irish Cup triumph following the Reds' League Cup success in July.

"To win the treble with the Reds and to complete the league season with a 100% record was unreal," said McGuinness.

"This award is a nice way to cap a fantastic month."

Glentoran goalkeeper Daniel Gyollai was named men's player of the month by the Football Writers, while Declan Caddell was named manager of the month for October.

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Larne boss Tiernan Lynch praised his team's character after they ground out an Irish Premiership win over Coleraine three days on from another disappointing night in Europe.

The Inver Park side edged the Bannsiders 2-1 thanks to goals from Paul O'Neill and Conor McKendry to move on from Thursday's defeat by St Gallen in the Uefa Conference League.

"The last couple of games after European games we've been flat and lacked a bit of character which this team is renowned for," said Lynch.

"Today was about character. There were tired bodies out there physically and mentally. First half we were very good but as the game went on we knew we'd tire a bit.

"That's when the character kicked in and I thought it was a great performance."

Lynch also described Logan Wallace's performance as "superb" after the defender marked his 19th birthday with a vital stoppage-time interception to deny Matthew Shevlin a certain equaliser.

"We'll not put too much pressure on him. He came in against Glentoran last week and was maybe thrown into the mix a little bit unfairly because we had so many injuries.

"But he grabbed that opportunity and I thought he'd done so well last week that he deserved to keep the shirt. As long as he keeps putting performances in he'll keep the shirt."

Shay McCartan's late winner from inside his own half for Portadown against Larne has been named October's goal of the month by the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association.

McCartan's effort, which secured a 2-1 win over the reigning Irish Premiership champions, was selected ahead of superb strikes by Crusaders' Kieran Offord, Linfield's Joel Cooper and Chris Middleton of Queen's University.

Image source, Press Eye

Glentoran goalkeeper Daniel Gyollai has been named October's player of the month by the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association.

Gyollai, 27, had a strong month for Declan Devine's side as he produced a strong performance in the 3-1 win over Irish Premiership leaders Linfield and kept a clean sheet against Dungannon Swifts.

The Hungarian goalkeeper, who was previously at Stoke City, Wigan Athletic, Peterborough United and Maidenhead United, said Glentoran are "one of the best clubs I've been at".

"I'm enjoying my time at the Oval. We're working hard, but results haven't always come our way. We need to change that," he said.

"On a personal level, it's nice to win an individual prize but as a goalkeeper you don't sign for a club to win awards, you sign to help the team win games. That's my aim for the rest of the season."

Glens defender Frankie Hvid, who is also Gyollai's house mate, was runner-up.

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Declan Caddell was pleased that his side "managed the end of the game" in their 3-1 win against Loughgall at Seaview.

Philip Lowry opened the scoring for the Crues with Harry Franklin and Jordan Stewart sealing the win.

The Crues are now up to fifth in the table and Caddell recognised that it was an important victory when they weren't at their best.

"I thought the game was a bit scrappy, both teams needed time to find their feet and get into the game, but I was happy to go in 2-0 ahead at half-time," he told BBC Sport NI.

"Loughgall had chances of their own and we asked for a response in the second half and the players gave me that with the third goal.

"To concede straight after is criminal, and we struggled as Loughgall threw everything at us, but we managed the end of the game well."

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Loughgall boss Dean Smith said that his side needed to "defend better" as they fell to a 3-1 defeat against Crusaders at Seaview.

Philip Lowry opened the scoring for the Crues, with Harry Franklin and Jordan Stewart adding further goals.

Robbie Norton pulled a goal back for Loughgall, but Smith conceded that he was disappointed with his side's output in both boxes.

"It was a game of fine margins, we have a few opportunities at 0-0, Tuffey makes some good saves, but we need to score when we get in the six-yard box because we get punished," he told BBC Sport NI.

"They score with their first shot on target, the marking was poor, Philip Lowry is free and does what he does and then the second goal, from our point of view is very sloppy to give away, especially at a poor time before half-time and it's a mountain to climb at 2-0."

Smith was particularly disappointed with the defending for the second goal on the stroke of half-time.

"It's a goal we can avoid, we can defend a bit better but it's a learning curve for our players that they have to defend better. We were a bit disappointed with our overall performance," he added.

"I think the second half is a bit of a non-event, Crusaders do well to score a third, we go up the other end and score, but it is probably too little too late."

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Carrick Rangers manager Stephen Baxter said that he was "devastated" by Portadown's late equaliser at Shamrock Park.

A Shay McCartan own goal had given Carrick an early lead, which they held until the last kick of the game, with McCartan's deflected strike rescuing a point for the Ports.

But Baxter believed his side's performance deserved all three points as they were left to rue missed chances.

"I'm devastated, last kick of the game and we will blame ourselves in many regards because we should have been five to the good such as the chances we have missed here," he told BBC Sport NI.

"We should have been four up at half-time and we missed a few in the second half.

"We restricted Portadown to nothing until the shot at the end and it flicks off one of players' shoulders and flies the other way, you can't legislate for that, that is football."

Despite only picking up a point, Baxter said that his side's display was "the best it's been" since he arrived at the club.

"That is a cruel way to draw a game, but we'll take nothing away from our performance today," he continued.

"Everyone working so hard for each other, the quality, the movement, we were magnificent, and you can be pleased with that."