NI Premiership Round-up - Week 12
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Cliftonville returned to the summit of Danske Bank Premiership with a 4-1 victory over Dungannon Swifts in Solitude. Joe Gormley and Liam Boyce both grabbed their tenth goal of the season as the home side ran out worthy winners and went two points clear at the top of the table.
Swifts grabbed a late consolation through Stephen O’Neill and after wards Rodney McAree resigned his post as joint manager leaving Darren Murphy in sole charge with the team fourth from the bottom of the league with only two victories this season.
Donegal Celtic manager Declan McGreevy has been forced to stand down as manager of after it emerged he was not qualified to be a Premiership boss. He is to be replaced by Pat McAllister who will take charge of the west Belfast club for a second time.
Celtic are rooted to the bottom of the table and McGreevy’s last match in charge saw them lose 1-0 to Portadown with former Monaghan United defender Brian Gartland securing the victory with a fine second half strike.
The Monday night fixture saw Coleraine overcome Linfield in a five goal thriller in the Showgrounds which sees the Bannsiders move above Ballinamallard United into second place.
Coleraine went two goals up in the first quarter of an hour through Darren Boyce before Michael Carvill halved the deficit with a free kick on 26 minutes. Ryan Henderson looked to have given the champions a share of the spoils when he prodded home with a minute remaining but Stephen Lowry drove home a dramatic winner deep into added time to leave the Blues in eighth place, eleven points behind the leaders.
Ballinamallard slip to third as two Paul Heatley strikes were enough to give Crusaders all three points in Ferney Park and move Crues to within one point of the Fermanagh side in fourth place.
Glentoran got their season back on track when they defeated Glenavon 2-1 in the Oval to give Eddie Patterson's men their first win in four Premiership matches. Richard Clarke turned on the edge of the box to score with a low shot which went in off a post in the 29th minute. Glenavon levelled midway through the second half when substitute Mark Brown jinked past a couple of defenders to shoot past Glens keeper Aaron Hogg. The home side secured the much-needed win when Mark Clarke headed in from Stephen Carson's corner on 72 minutes.
In the final game Ballymena United were convincing 4-0 winners over second from bottom Lisburn Distillery.
