Takeaways from Boxing Day Irish Premiership games
The most anticipated series of fixtures in the Irish Premiership season – the traditional Boxing Day derbies – threw up their fair share of drama and excitement on Friday.
Leaders Larne looked to be on the brink of a first league defeat in 11 outings as they trailed Carrick Rangers but two late goals saw them stretch their impressive unbeaten record and extend their lead at the summit over the chasing pack.
Glentoran made history with a first-ever festive derby win over big Belfast rivals Linfield at Windsor Park while the other four fixtures all produced decisive outcomes with victories for Crusaders, Ballymena United, Portadown and Dungannon Swifts.
BBC Sport NI looks at some of the takeaways from the six matches.
Carrick Rangers 1-2 Larne
Playing against a backdrop of much change at the club in the early stages of the season, Larne largely flew under the radar when predictions were being made as to who may emerge Irish Premiership champions, but the Invermen have emerged as favourites to collect the Gibson Cup next spring.
Friday’s comeback win over neighbours Carrick Rangers demonstrated their ability to grind out results, always a characteristic of potential champions, and they now enjoy a six-point advantage over nearest challengers Coleraine at the top.
At least three other attributes of potential champions are being displayed by Gary Haveron’s side – their unbeaten record at home this season, a sound defensive platform, with just nine goals conceded in the top flight to date, plus an ability to win matches by a single goal, as has been the case in their past six victories.
All this without the services of injured influential duo Cian Bolger and Andy Ryan, who have yet to play this season.
Their fortunes are in contrast to east Antrim neighbours Carrick Rangers who are now without a win in seven, five of those defeats.
The Taylors Avenue side sit 11th in the table and will be looking nervously over their shoulders at bottom club Glenavon, over whom they have now have just a six-point cushion.
Linfield 0-1 Glentoran
When Linfield manager David Healy recently appeared to discount his team’s chances of retaining their Irish League title observers put it down to ‘mind games’ on the part of the Blues boss but that prophecy is looking perilously close to coming true.
Successive defeats, first away to Glenavon and then a 1-0 home Boxing Day reverse against fierce rivals Glentoran have put the Windsor Park side on the back foot as they attempt to close a 13-point gap on leaders Larne, albeit with one game in hand.
Tuesday night’s visit to Coleraine is a crucial one for Healy’s men, with the loser of that game facing an uphill struggle to retain realistic title ambitions.
Things are looking brighter for Glentoran, who made it two wins in a row by seeing off their opponents thanks to Joe Thomson’s stunning goal.
Confidence had been restored with a 2-1 victory over Coleraine seven days earlier, that success ending a run of just two points from five fixtures for Declan Devine’s charges.
The east Belfast club too have little margin for error however as their deficit to the pacesetters is 11 points, also with a game in hand.
Ballymena Utd 2-0 Coleraine
Oran Kearney’s first derby in charge of Ballymena United against Coleraine proved to be a memorable one for Sky Blues fans as the hosts ran out 2-0 victors courtesy of a Daire O’Connor double.
Supporters of the Braidmen will hope that that result can help kick-start their side’s campaign and find the consistency that has so long proved elusive.
Perched in ninth spot at present, the club will both be wary of being dragged further towards the drop zone but look positively towards possibly making progress towards the top half of the table.
The loss to their A26 derby rivals put a further significant dent in Coleraine’s faltering title ambitions as they recorded a fourth reverse in seven top division outings and a sixth in the league season.
The Bannsiders are the top scorers in the league by some distance, aided by the firepower of prolific duo Matthew Shevlin (12 goals) and Joel Cooper (11) and manager Ruaidhri Higgins will hope that the latter’s knee problem can continue to be managed effectively.
Tuesday’s encounter with Linfield looks pivotal to maintaining their challenge for a first title since 1974.
Cliftonville 0-2 Crusaders
Few neutral observers will have seen this result coming given the recent form of the respective sides before their meeting in the north Belfast derby at Solitude.
Cliftonville went into the fixture unbeaten in eight in the top flight but had to give second best to their near neighbours as Crusaders emerged victors on the day.
Jim Magilton’s side lie sixth in the table and will aim to retain that berth in the top half for the remainder of the term.
The Crues went into the game on a five-game losing streak and manager Declan Caddell will hope that momentum can be gained from seeing off their rivals in the festive derby fixture and confidence will be boosted heading towards the business end of the season.
The triumph lifted the Seaview side above Carrick into 10th position before the meeting of the two sides at Seaview on Tuesday, and gives them some much-needed breathing space over basement side Glenavon, that gap now standing at eight points.
Portadown 1-0 Glenavon
Portadown manager Niall Currie conceded that the Mid-Ulster derby may not have been easy on the eye but was naturally well satisfied with coming away with the three points thanks to Luke Wilson’s winner.
The victory keeps the Shamrock Park side in touch with the teams in the top half of the table as they occupy seventh place, one point in arrears of Cliftonville above them.
Four wins from their past six games gives plenty for the Ports to build on.
Glenavon’s form remains patchy as their formbook now reads three wins and five defeats from their past eight Premiership matches.
Home form has been key for the Lurgan Blues given their record of four victories from their past five games at Mourneview Park, including notable successes over Glentoran and Linfield.
Six points adrift at the bottom, they will target further steps towards preserving their Premiership status when they host Dungannon on Tuesday.
Dungannon Swifts 1-0 Bangor
Dungannon Swifts’ early-season troubles seem something of a distant memory now as their festive win over Bangor consolidated their fifth place in the standings.
Rodney McAree’s side appeared to struggle to shake off a European hangover at the start of the campaign, losing six of their first seven league matches, but have bounced back in some style with 11 wins from their subsequent 14 games.
Swifts are another team who have laid the foundations for a revival on their home form, collecting maximum points from seven of their past eight fixtures at Stangmore Park.
Bangor are eighth in the table with seven wins and four draws from 21 games representing a very creditable return so far on their return to the top flight.
Boss Lee Feeney will be keen to get some more points on the board soon though to prevent any danger of being involved in a scrap in the lower reaches of the table.
Source: Sports Yahoo
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