NI Premiership Round up - Series 17
Credit:
Northern Irish Premiership Round up – Series 17
Sky TV cameras were on hand to capture Cliftonville’s 4-0 victory over Lisburn Distillery on Monday night that maintains the Reds seven point lead at the summit of Danske Irish Premiership.
The omens didn’t look good for Distillery as they entered the game with only one league win in their last twelve outings while high-flying Cliftonville were full of confidence after their eight goal thumping of Ballymena United.
It seemed like it would be a long evening for Lisburn as Tommy Breslin’s men dominated the opening quarter, creating numerous opportunities before Joe Gormley celebrated his 23rd birthday in style by skipping past Philip Simpson and tucking the ball into the corner of the net on sixteen minutes.
If the sizable home crowd expected Cliftonville to go on dominate after taking the lead they were disappointed as Distillery came into the game more and more as the half wore on and were unlucky not to gain parity before the break with Conor Devlin producing a couple of good saves from Jordan Hughes. The visitors also had a strong penalty appeal turned down when Jordan Forsyth was clumsily challenged by Ronan Scannell but play was waved on.
The second half was equally evenly matched but Liam Boyce’s headed goal on 72 minutes eased the home side’s nerves and when Barry Johnstone added a third with his first touch, and James Knowles side-footed a fourth in injury –time, it was harsh on Lisburn who belied their position at the foot of the table with a battling performance.
A Timmy Adamson treble gave Crusaders a comfortable 5-2 victory over Donegal Celtic at Suffolk Road that keeps Crues in second place, while Celtic stays off the bottom by virtue of a superior goal difference to Lisburn Distillery.
Ballinamallard United hold on to third spot with a hard fought victory away to Glenavon with defender, David Kee, scoring the only goal in the 65th minute. Glenavon pressed hard for an equaliser but were thwarted by a couple of great saves from former Longford Town keeper Alvin Rouse. The result sees Glenavon stay third from bottom with only one win in their last ten league outings.
Coleraine came out on top in the battle between fourth and fifth placed teams as Shane Jennings first goal of the season was enough to edge the Bannsiders past Glentoran who had Elliot Morris to thank for keeping them in the game with a string of fine saves.
Elsewhere, Linfield stay in sixth with a 2-1 win over seventh placed Ballymena United while Portadown and Dungannon Swifts are in eighth and ninth, respectively, after playing out a 1-1 draw in Shamrock Park.
