NI Premiership Round up – Week 27
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With only one game in the Danske Irish Premiership last weekend, due to inclement weather and the staging of the League Cup final, the league returned with a full complement of matches on Saturday afternoon.
Leaders Cliftonville hosted Lisburn Distillery with last weekend’s League Cup victory over Crusaders adding to the feel good factor around Solitude. A Joe Gormley hat-trick ensured it wasn’t a case of after the Lord Mayor’s show for the home side as they, eventually, ran out comfortable winners over bottom placed Distillery.
In truth, if Tommy Breslin could have picked the opposition for his side’s first game after the 4-0 demolition of their North Belfast rivals at Windsor Park then it would probably have been Lisburn who prop up the table and without a win in their last fifteen league outings.
Not that it would have been obvious from their first half display as they matched the home side in all aspects of the game and were only denied the lead by a fine Conor Devlin save from a rasping Michael Halliday drive. Owain Beggs then headed over from six yards as the visitors sought to capitalise on an energetic start but gradually Cliftonville grew into the game and took the lead when Diarmuid O’Carroll’s slide rule past opened up the Distillery defence and Gormley finished smartly on 23 minutes.
Liam Boyce then repeated the trick 15 minutes later as his pin point through ball was calmly dispatched by Stephen Garrett and the home side began to knock the ball about with all the confidence befitting a team nine points clear at the top and on course for a domestic treble, with involvement also in the Setanta Cup.
Gormley added two more in the second half, both set up by the majestic Boyce who is revelling in his deep lying playmakers role and seemed able to pick the Lisburn defence apart at will to add to his ever growing reputation.
David Rainey scored a brace as Crusaders bounced back from their cup final mauling to defeat Donegal Celtic at Suffolk Road but had French goalkeeper Yohann Lacroix to thank for keeping it goalless at the break as he denied Stephen O’Neill with an excellent save mid-way through the half. Rainey scrambled home the opener on 52 minutes before Timmy Adamson made it two when he controlled and fired home brilliantly three minutes later. Veteran striker Rainey ensured Crusaders kept the pressure on at the summit as he headed the third in the dying moments.
Ballymena United fought back from two goals down to draw at Linfield and possibly dealt a hammer blow to the Champions quest to regain their crown. Matthew Tipton put the Blues ahead on 21 minutes, firing in from close range after his first effort was blocked, and when Brian McCaul tapped home a Phillip Lowry cross on the hour it seemed that Linfield were on course for their sixth consecutive league win.
David Cushley then announced himself by grabbing two goals in the last twenty minutes to give his side a valuable point as they seek to break into the top six before the league splits at the end of March.
Sixth-placed Glentoran moved four points clear of Portadown in the league table thanks to Richard Clarke's 58th-minute winning goal at Shamrock Park as Gary Twigg failed to repeat his mid-week heroics when his was the only goal as Portadown overcame Ballinamallard United.
Ballinamallard drew 0-0 with fifth placed Coleraine while Guy Bates scored twice either side of former Derry City striker Mark Farren’s tap-in to give Glenavon a 3-1 win over Dungannon Swifts.
