Larne move six clear after Glens draw with Blues

Larne beat Cliftonville 2-0 on Saturday to move six points clear at the top of the Irish Premiership as nearest challengers Glentoran were held to a 1-1 draw by Linfield. Goals from Matty Lusty and Andy Ryan kept the Invermen on course for a third league title in four years while at the Oval Matt Yates put the Blues ahead, with Aaron McEneff levelling from the penalty spot. Both sides have four matches still to play before the conclusion of the campaign.

Third-placed Coleraine sit two points behind the Glens as they chase the runner-up finish which would guarantee qualification European qualification after they defeated Dungannon Swifts 2-1 at Stangmore Park. Kobie Moore gave the hosts the lead but Joel Cooper and Mark Coyle struck to ensure victory for the Bannsiders in their first match after the split. In the bottom half, Paul Heatley scored twice as Carrick Rangers inflicted a thumping 6-1 win on Crusaders, whose bid to avoid relegation to the second tier suffered a blow.

Larne secure crucial home win Larne broke on the counter-attack early on at Inver Park with Andy Ryan crossing from the right-hand channel into the path of Matty Lusty but he opted to take the effort first time and put it well wide. Almost straight away, Cliftonville spurned a glorious opening as a long clearance put Brian Healy in behind the Larne defence but, under pressure from Matt Ridley, the striker blazed over. Ryan and Lusty combined again for Larne but the latter's effort lacked power, allowing Reds keeper PJ Morrison to dive to his right to palm the ball away.

The home side eventually went in front on 27 minutes when Aaron Donnelly's pass in to Sean Graham in the left hand channel saw the Larne player get to the ball ahead of keeper Morrison before squaring for Lusty to drill a low shot into the unguarded net despite Jonny Addis' efforts to block the shot. Cliftonville almost levelled three minutes into the second period when Larne failed to deal with a high ball into the penalty area and the ball dropped for Liam McStravick, whose fierce strike cannoned off the crossbar. As Cliftonville pressed for an equaliser, Ryan Curran's snap-shot brought a smart reflex save from Rohan Ferguson while at the other end, Ryan's point-blank header was superbly diverted over by Morrison.