Crues and Coleraine win to secure top six places

Crusaders and Coleraine secured their places in the top six of the Irish Premiership for the five sets of post-split fixtures by clinching 1-0 victories on Saturday.

Philip Lowry's second-half goal gave the Crues the win over Glentoran at the Oval while Dylan Boyle was on target in the second 45 minutes as the Bannsiders saw off Portadown at Ballycastle Road.

Larne moved above Glentoran on goal difference into the second place which would guarantee European football as they defeated Glenavon 1-0 at Mourneview Park, Tiarnan O'Connor with the winner.

Cliftonville saw off Carrick Rangers 3-0 at Solitude with goals from Shea Gordon, Ryan Curran and Alex Parsons, while Loughgall clinched a first league success since early November by beating Ballymena United 2-1 at Lakeview Park.

Benji Magee opened the scoring, Danny Lafferty equalised, but substitute Fra McCaffrey netted the decisive goal.

Lowry header seals three points

After 10 minutes at the Oval the away side believed that Glentoran should have been reduced to 10 men after Lowry was brought down in midfield by a late sliding tackle by Dylan Connolly, who was cautioned for the foul.

Four minutes later, Glentoran fans were left confused as to how their side hadn't opened the scoring after Kodi-Lyons Foster connected with a corner and had two shots blocked before having one hoofed off the line.

Crusaders failed to clear the danger though with Harry Jewitt-White then making two blocks off the line, before Jarlath O'Rourke eventually cleared the ball to safety.

The chances were few and far between but just before the break, another Glentoran corner caused a scramble. However, Frankie Hvid couldn't steer home Charlie Lindsay's delivery from close range with Crusaders eventually knocking the ball out of play and Dylan Connolly firing the second corner wide.

After the restart Lewis Barr made a crucial block to divert Nathaniel Ferris' effort after a mistake from Jimmy Callacher had gifted him a good opportunity before Jonny Tuffey was called into action to tip Joe Thomson's powerful free-kick over the crossbar.

Crusaders broke the deadlock on the 75th minute when substitute Stewart Nixon beat Frankie Hvid to the ball, burst into the box and played the ball back for the unmarked Lowry to head home.

Glentoran upped the tempo in the final few minutes and hit the crossbar in additional time, but couldn't find a leveller.

Bannsiders banish Ports to bottom six

Boyle's second league goal of the season secured Coleraine the three points and a top six finish.

The midfielder battled his way past a number of challenges before planting a low right foot shot from the edge of the penalty area and just out of the reach of Ports' goalkeeper Jordan Williamson in the 69th minute.

Coleraine enjoyed the better of the chances in a tense opening half but failed to trouble replacement 'keeper Jordan Williamson, in for Aaron McCarey who was injured in the warm-up.

Matthew Shevlin shot wide of the post from 12 yards out while Connor Murray delayed taking his shot with the goal at his mercy allowing the impressive Divin Isamala to get back and block.

The hosts also had claims for a penalty turned down by referee Declan Hassan after Shevlin went down under a challenge from Aaron Traynor.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, Coleraine dominating possession, and Matthew Shevlin unusually volleyed over the crossbar from close range after good work from Levi Ives.

The breakthrough finally came 20 minutes from the end when Boyle showed great strength to burst through from midfield before burying a low right foot shot past the despairing dive of Williamson.

Portadown created little over the course of the 90 minutes, Josh Ukek going closest in the opening minutes, on a disappointing afternoon for Niall Currie's side.

Larne get the better of Glenavon

O'Connor grabbed the only goal of the game at Mourneview Park as Larne took the win that saw them move up into second.

The half-time substitute turned home from Paul O'Neill's cutback, but Glenavon will have felt they deserved something from this game as they created some decent opportunities of their own.

The returning Michael O'Connor had the ball in the net after 15 minutes but was flagged for offside and later in the half seemed certain to finish from a couple of yards out when Aaron Donnelly somehow got in to take the ball off his toe as the half ended scoreless.

The frustration continued for Glenavon 10 minutes into the second period as Davy McDaid had an initial effort that led to an almighty scramble, but the ball stubbornly stayed out.

However, the tide gradually began to turn in the 74th minute and Larne hit the front as O'Neill cut back from the right with O'Connor turning home despite the best efforts of Tadhg Ryan.

Glenavon pushed for an equaliser and in added time they had a great opportunity when a cross into the box broke to Harry Lynch, but his shot shaved the top of the crossbar as Larne survived.

Reds put three past Carrick

The home side took control with the final kick of the first half when Joe Gormley flicked on Luke Conlan's pass, and Gordon made no mistake, driving the ball into the far corner from just inside the box to give the Reds the lead.

Ten minutes into the second half, Gordon was involved again. His shot deflected kindly into the path of Curran, who, while on the ground, managed to poke the ball past Jack McIntyre to double the hosts' advantage.

The points were sealed three minutes from time. Ryan Corrigan was brought down in the box by Luke McCullough. Alex Parsons stepped up and saw his penalty saved, but he reacted fastest to slot in the rebound for the north Belfast side.

Carrick had a golden chance to go in front early. Danny Gibson broke clear in the fourth minute, but Lewis Ridd stayed sharp to push away the low shot and keep Cliftonville level.

The north Belfast outfit nearly had a third when Gormley lifted the ball over McIntyre in the 71st minute, only for McCullough to race back and produce a brilliant block on the line, sparing the visitors further punishment.

Loughgall end win drought

At Lakeview Park, Loughgall had an early chance when Ryan Waide intercepted a Patrick McEleney pass in midfield and raced clear but his effort cleared Sean O'Neill but the crossbar as well.

The home side took the lead on 18 minutes with a superb individual goal from Benji Magee, who collected the ball 40 yards from goal and weaved his way through the visiting defence before beating O'Neill with a rising shot.

The visitors levelled just after the half hour when Danny Lafferty played a one-two with Aaron Jarvis and then collected Jarvis's clever scooped pass over the defence to run on and place a shot past Nathan Gartside.

The visitors went on front on 73 minutes when Jordan Gibson headed towards goal from a Pablo Andrade corner and Fra McCaffrey was on hand to claim the final decisive touch, with the assistant flagging that the ball had crossed the goal-line.

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Lowry header seals three points

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