Irish League Football

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Ballymena United manager Jim Ervin said "a lack of cutting edge" and a couple of defensive errors cost his side dearly in their 2-0 loss to Larne in Friday's Irish Premiership match at Inver Park.

The Braidmen had won their first three league games without conceding a goal but that sequence came to an end as goals from Benji Magee and Dan Bent delivered three points for the hosts in the Shane's Hill derby under the lights.

"Disappointed with the result but performance wise bar a 15-minute spell in the first half I thought it was good," summed up the Ballymena boss after the game.

"I thought we actually started the game very brightly and then we got hit with a sucker punch, a ball down the side of us and we haven't dealt with it.

"If you make mistakes against the top sides in this league you get punished. That's why they are where they are. You can't make mistakes and if you do make mistakes they have to be at the top end of the pitch.

"We've made two mistakes and they brought two goals and ultimately that's the difference."

Ervin added that a lack of penetration up front and some poor delivery from wide areas proved costly for his side.

"We had a lot of the ball, a lot of really good passages of play, but we didn't have that cutting edge. We were pretty ruthless in that respect in recent games but I think that's the thing we've lacked tonight.

"We had Larne penned in for a good 20 or 25 minutes in the second half, played some lovely football through the middle of the pitch and got in some good areas but when we got into the final third we were lacking severe quality."

The United boss was not critical of Ben Kennedy for failing to convert a spot-kick before half-time which would have seen the sides go in level at the interval.

"I think if we went in level at half-time it would have been a fair outcome, we would have deserved it.

"I'm not going to criticise anyone for missing a penalty kick, I know how that feels.

"Ben has scored a lot of goals for us, especially from penalties. It happens. We dusted ourselves down and came out and did really well in the second half."

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Larne interim manager Gary Haveron says he was "excited" by his side's performance in their 2-0 Irish Premiership win over Ballymena United at Inver Park on Friday night.

An early goal from Benji Magee and a late strike from Dan Bent made it three games unbeaten under Haveron since Nathan Rooney's sudden departure from the club on 18 August.

The Invermen drew 1-1 at Cliftonville in the interim boss's first game at the helm and then saw off Portadown 4-0 at home.

"I thought we were very exciting. We let them creep back into the game, they went long and direct and asked a few questions of our backline, threw men forward and had a go, but we stood really tall," observed Haveron.

"We missed a lot of chances but the brilliant thing for me is we created a lot of chances, kept another clean sheet and scored two goals."

"What we should really have done is kill them on the counter-attack with the number of attacks we had, we should have had the game dead and buried."

Home stopper Rohan Ferguson denied Ballymena a route back into the game when he saved Ben Kennedy's penalty at the end of the first half after Magee was adjudged to have clipped the United forward inside the area.

"It was a poor penalty to give away but Rohan does what he has been doing since the day and hour he signed here. He was absolutely outstanding for us and kept the scoresheet as it should have been.

"If we had gone in at half-time drawing it would have been a travesty, given how we played and the football we knocked about in the first half."

Having kept two consecutive clean sheets in successive home victories, Haveron is keen that his side maintain their good form on their own patch.

"We went two years without defeat at this place so we know what we can do here. We know how important Inver Park is and our fans and getting them involved in games. We want to give back to them.

"We want to be a team that's good to watch and easy on the eye but we also want a team that is full of character and I think that's what they showed tonight."

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Dungannon Swifts boss Rodney McAree says his side must produce a response to their poor start to the campaign in their game against Bangor on Saturday.

The Swifts are rooted to the foot of the table having failed to pick up a point from their four games so far.

And McAree, who led Dungannon to a fourth-place finish and the Irish Cup last season, is desperate for his players to get their season up and running away to promoted Bangor.

"We need a response; we have to get ourselves going as quickly as possible," he told BBC Sport NI.

"We need to get our season started. We can't just think it is going to happen, we need to make it happen and at the minute we look like we're a little bit off it.

"We need the players to show they want to be here and play for this club and want to turn things around for us."

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Portadown boss Niall Currie said striker Rhys Annett is "one of the best finishers" he has managed as the on-loan forward marked his first start with a goal.

Annett, who made the temporary switch to Shamrock Park from Linfield, netted the opener in the Ports' 2-1 win against Crusaders which helped the club bounce back from back-to-back losses.

And Currie believes the frontman has all the attributes to score plenty more goals this season.

"We had him in a front two as we know that is his best position, he can play left or right or behind a striker but ultimately he's fantastic with a partner beside him," Currie told BBC Sport NI.

"He's one of the best finishers I have coached. I gave him his Championship debut as a 16-year-old at Dundela so I know all about him. He seems to be a fan favourite already."

Currie said that it was a "huge three points" for the Ports following last week's disappointing 4-0 defeat by Larne.

"Anytime you beat the Crues you know you're in the game," he added.

"It was a very even game, it was more like basketball in the second half, more than I liked, but the players deserve great credit we are off the back off a disappointing defeat by Larne and we had a lot of injuries, but they left everything out on the pitch."

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Crusaders boss Declan Caddell said his side "shot themselves in the foot" in their 2-1 defeat by Portadown at Shamrock Park.

Jordan Forsythe's well-taken goal cancelled out Rhys Annett's opener for the Ports, but substitute Eamon Fyfe struck the winner from the edge of the box.

The defeat is a third in four games for the Crues and Caddell continued to lament his side's defensive frailties.

"I'm really disappointed, I thought we shaded the first half, we went down 1-0 after a really poor goal, second half got into the game with a really well-worked goal then we shot ourselves in the foot it was a schoolboy goal [to give away]," he told BBC Sport NI.

"I have told the players all week we have been conceding too many goals, you can't make mistakes or teams will punish you and we've made two tonight and we've been punished.

"It is frustrating as we were the team in the ascendancy looking to get the second goal. One long ball up the pitch changes the game, and it is not acceptable you can't afford to concede goals like that, that is the bottom line. Teams don't have to work hard to score goals against us."

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Leaders Glentoran thrashed Lisburn Ladies 8-0 at Blanchflower Stadium to remain top of the Women's Premiership table.

Their rivals Linfield remain two points behind as a late Eve Reilly goal helped them to come from behind to beat Lisburn Rangers 3-2 at Crewe Park.

At Solitude, defending champions Cliftonville, who have two games in hand over the top two, eased to a 3-0 win against Derry City.

Glentoran were dominant from start to finish in east Belfast and raced into a 5-0 half-time lead.

Aimee Kerr netted twice with Faye Loughran, Emma McMaster and Kascie Weir also getting on the scoresheet.

Emily Wilson, Demi Vance and Sophie McKnight added further goals in the second half to complete the thumping.

Linfield were in danger of losing ground in what looks to be a three-horse title race as they trailed 2-0 after 55 minutes against Lisburn Rangers.

Quick-fire goals from Reilly and Megan Bell got them back in the game, with Reilly then netting in the 93rd minute to steal all three points.

Cliftonville went ahead in north Belfast on the stroke of half-time as Marissa Callaghan curled home to break the deadlock.

Reds skipper Kelsie Burrows added a second five minutes after the restart with Aoibhe O'Neill sealing all three points by scoring a penalty.

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Crusaders boss Declan Caddell says his side need to "stamp down" on the number of goals they are conceding.

The Crues have shipped seven goals in their first three league games - losses against Carrick Rangers and Glentoran and a win against Bangor.

Ahead of Friday night's trip to Shamrock Park to face Portadown, Caddell has urged his side to be more defensively solid, and to that end has added further to the Scottish contingent at the Seaview club by securing the services of defender Evan Easton on a season-long loan deal from Sheffield United.

Easton, who was part of the youth ranks at Celtic, joins fellow Scots Fraser Bryden, Elliot Dunlop, Adam Brooks, Jacob Blaney and Kieran McKechnie in joining the ranks at the north Belfast club.

The 20-year-old joined the Blades in 2023 and featured for the club's U21s last season, scoring four league goals.

"We're conceding too many goals over the three games so far, that is something we have to stamp down on," Crues boss Caddell told BBC Sport NI.

"There is a lot of homework for us to do on how we shut the back door as it hasn't been good enough the past three games and looking at going forward, how we can hurt them."

Caddell has called for patience with his new-look side and believes there have been signs that they are on the right track.

"This is a completely new team, there is a still a lot of learning to be done and things to work on," he added.

"It will take us a while to click and gel, you have seen bits and pieces, but we haven't done it over 90 minutes yet and it is about those finer details."

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Linfield manager David Healy lamented his side's "worst performance out of the four games" against Shelbourne as his side exited the Uefa Conference League at the play-off stage.

The Irish Premiership champions lost 2-1 on aggregate to the League of Ireland holders in their Champions League first round qualifier in July and a 2-0 second-leg defeat at Windsor Park on Thursday night saw them go down 5-1 on aggregate to the Dublin side in Europe's third tier competition.

First-half goals from Harry Wood and Ali Coote sealed Linfield's fate in Belfast.

"Disappointing. I talked before the game about how important it was that we got the first goal. We didn't look like that tonight," Healy told BBC Sport NI after the game.

"More frustrating is the manner that we conceded the [first] goal. We were aware of Harry Wood's movement. It's not as if we were going into the game blind. We were fully aware of his capabilities, his runs.

"You can probably look at it from a Shelbourne point of view and say it was a wonderful pass and a wonderful finish, which it probably was, but from our point of view we were well aware of that run and ball.

"We had seen it in the three games previously and we didn't deal with it tonight. Tonight was our worst performance out of the four games that we played but it was at the most crucial point. That's frustrating."

Healy added that despite the tie being over as a contest by half-time he was pleased with how his players responded in the second period.

"The most important thing for me tonight is that we didn't fall apart in the second half.

"Going forward we got some of the younger players some more European experience which will benefit them long term.

"We all feel disappointed that we haven't grasped the opportunity but we'll respond in a positive manner like we always do and we'll try and put our best foot forward in the cup competitions and most importantly, our bread and butter, in our domestic league, where we feel we are more than a match for anyone."

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Larne boss Gary Haveron said their home game against Ballymena United on Friday night will be a "tough challenge".

The Sky Blues make the trip to Inver Park in good form after recording three wins from their opening three games for the first time since 1952.

Haveron hopes that his side, who beat Portadown 4-0 last Friday for their first league win, will have benefited from a longer than usual rest period ahead of the game.

"It'll be a tough challenge; they have started the season really well and on the front foot. They're a big, strong, physical team so we'll prepare the best we can," he told BBC Sport NI.

"This is the first time in a long time we have the chance to recover this long, so the boys had some days off before we began to prepare on Monday."

Ballymena boss Jim Ervin says that his side will be wary of the threat Larne pose following their ruthless display against Portadown.

"It is a difficult game away from home, they had a really convincing win against Portadown. We know how difficult that is because Portadown are a solid team," he said.

"We know what to expect at Inver. It is going to be a huge game and hopefully a good atmosphere. Hopefully our fans can get down in numbers and give the boys the backing they need."

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Irish Premiership champions Linfield have bolstered their squad with the signing of midfielder Isaac Baird on a two-year deal from Glenavon.

Baird, 20, completes the switch to Windsor Park after asking Glenavon to make him available for a transfer.

The youngster began his career at Lurgan Town and Portadown before joining Glenavon in 2022.

"It feels brilliant to sign for the biggest team in the country," said Baird.

"The next step in my career is to come to Linfield and fight for my place, trophies and success.

"At Glenavon I played with a lot of ex-Linfield players who spoke so highly of the club and told me how good it is here. That always really sold it to me, I've always wanted to play for Linfield."

Linfield boss David Healy said: "Isaac is a player who has impressed us whenever we've faced him over the past couple of seasons.

"We have had our eye on Isaac for a number of years now and at just 20 years old, he already has significant Premiership experience and we believe he has huge potential to develop further here at Linfield."

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Teenager Coran Madden has left Cliftonville to sign for Premier League side Brentford.

The 16-year-old became the youngest player in the Reds' history when he made his debut and registered an assist in a 4-0 win against Loughgall in November.

Madden went on to make eight more Irish Premiership appearances for Jim Magilton's side and scored his first goal in a BetMcLean League Cup win against Armagh City.

Speaking to the Bees' website upon signing for the west London club, Madden said he was excited to get started.

"I like the fact that I can get better every day, just that one per cent every day," he said.

"I really can't wait. Hopefully I can provide goals, assists and show what I can do."

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Cliftonville defeated Lisburn Rangers 3-1 to keep their hopes of retaining the Women's Premiership title alive.

The Reds have five points off leaders Glentoran but have a game in hand.

Linfield currently split the Glens and Cliftonville, and are two points off the top.

Midfielder Vicky Carleton opened the scoring in the 34th minute when she finished Kirsty McGuinness' ball into the area.

Carleton was on target again seven minutes after the restart, but Abbie Smyth swiftly pulled a goal back for Lisburn.

However, Caitlin McGuinness secured the win with 11 minutes to play when she headed home a cross fro her sister, Kirsty.

It was a big win for the Reds as they look to defend their title, while Lisburn Rangers remain in fourth place.

Cliftonville boss Jim Magilton laments his side's lack of cutting edge in their 1-0 defeat against Linfield at Windsor Park.

Kieran Offord scored the winner for the Blues in the first half, with Cliftonville without a win after four league games.

Magilton also refused to comment on speculation surrounding Cliftonville's proposed takeover by the Toronto Investment Group, stating he had "no idea" on progress being made.

Read more: Fine Offord goal helps Linfield beat Cliftonville