Irish League Football

Image source, Inpho

The Irish Cup quarter-final between Glentoran and Larne will be shown live on BBC Sport NI.

The Glens will welcome the Irish Premiership leaders to the Oval on Friday, 6 March (19:45 GMT)

Twenty-three time winners Glentoran eased past amateur side Drumaness Mills 5-0 in their rearranged sixth-round tie on Tuesday to book their place in the last eight.

Larne, who have never won the Irish Cup, reached the quarter-final stage with a 2-0 win over Championship side Warrenpoint Town.

The game will be live-streamed on the BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport NI website and BBC Sport app.

Linfield manager David Healy says his side will not give up their defence of the Irish Premiership without a fight after Tuesday's 4-1 win at Dungannon Swifts.

Gael Bigirimana cancelled out Matthew Fitzpatrick's opener but Isaac Baird's double and Kyle McClean's goal gave Linfield a comfortable win.

Healy's side are third in the table and are eight points off leaders Larne with 10 matches remaining.

"It's unlikely, but not impossible. We have a lot of work to do but we've put ourselves in this position," Healy told BBC Sport NI.

"There are three other very good teams who have all invested incredibly well over the past number of months.

"Larne have responded when a lot of people probably thought they were going to go away after winning the league, and us last year.

"Credit to the teams and managers, they have put squads together who are not only capable of challenging but putting themselves in with a chance of success."

Despite a surprise Irish Cup exit at the hands of Championship frontrunners Limavady United, Linfield are now unbeaten in eight matches in the league.

Healy also had praise for midfielder Baird, who assisted Fitzpatrick's opener before his double.

"There has been a lot of questions and challenges over the last while, and the players have responded, but it's important that we go and back this up going forward.

"In the past few weeks Isaac has been given a more free role in attacking midfield. He scored a couple of scruffy goals, which are key and they break the defiance of the opposition."

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Ballymena United manager Oran Kearney said he "wouldn't like to play against" striker Igor Rutkowski after he netted twice during their 2-0 victory over Crusaders at the Ballymena Showgrounds.

After a goalless first half, Rutkowski scored two goals after the restart to seal the three crucial points for the home side.

The striker has made an instant impact since joining the side from Armagh City in January and has majorly helped Kearney's options in attack as the side aim to pull away from the relegation battle.

"Strikers are judged on goals and I think his overall play, I wouldn't like to play against him" Kearney told BBC Sport NI.

"His work rate, his honesty and how he plays on the ball and off the ball for the boys is fantastic and he deserves the goals.

"He has had a good start; there are parts of the game we are still improving on."

Now, the Sky Blues sit in tenth, three points clear of Crusaders who occupy the relegation play-off position.

"I think everything you would want to on a night like this," Kearney continued.

"Nights like this can be edgy and tough. It has been a tough run for both clubs. For us, it was about showing that good mentality.

"We got goals at a good time and we have maintained a clean sheet which is really important and I am just happy to get the three points."

Crusaders manager Declan Caddell said his side need to "wake up" after the result which means that the side are now without a win in their last six games.

"They didn't turn up, not good enough in terms of what is at stake during the match," Caddell told BBC Sport NI.

"They have to wake up going forward."

Jordan Jenkins scored four goals as Glentoran beat amateur league side Drumaness Mills 5-0 to set up an Irish Cup quarter-final with Larne.

In a tie rescheduled from 7 Febraury due to waterlogged pitch at the Oval, the Drumaness defence was finally unlocked in the 24th minute as Jenkins fired the Glens in front with a right-footed strike from just inside the box.

Jenkins grabbed his second of the evening in the 37th minute as he fired home from a central position on the edge of the box after a clever pull-back from Ben Gallagher.

The Glentoran striker completed his hat-trick just before the break as he bundled home after Josh Daniels flicked on a Danny Amos corner.

Gallagher and James Singleton both hit the woodwork for Glentoran, the latter of which was pushed onto the crossbar by goalkeeper Aaron Carberry.

The hosts hit the woodwork on multiple occasions early in the second half as they went in search of a fourth, and finally found it in the 79th minute, once again courtesy of Jenkins.

Jenkis' fourth in the 79th minute was arguably the standout goal of the night as he fired home with a precise curling effort from a tight angle into the top corner.

Cal Weatherup put the icing on the cake as he won and converted a penalty, and Drumaness had a late consolation goal ruled out for offside after Reece Doyle finished high into the net.

A quarter-final date with Larne awaits for the Glens, whose hopes of a first Irish Cup triumph since 2020 remain alive as they progress into the final eight.

"It was difficult so fair play to Drumaness, they put up a really good fight and had some good moments in the game," Glentoran assistant manager Tim McCann said.

"Their travelling support was absolutely fantastic so it was something to be proud of.

"All you can do is beat the team in front of you, we weren't taking this game lightly but you can't ask for much more than 5-0 and into the quarter-final."

Tuesday's Irish Premiership match between Portadown and Cliftonville at Shamrock Park has been abandoned due to floodlight failure.

It had been an entertaining start to the game and the away side led through Joe O'Toole's stunning strike.

However, in the 41st minute, the floodlights failed at Shamrock Park.

After discussions, the players were then taken off the pitch while they attempted to fix the issue but efforts proved unsuccessful.

This is the second time this campaign that the side have had issues with their floodlights after the second half of their Boxing Day derby against Glenavon was delayed by 15 minutes after an issue with the oil filter.

Last season, Glentoran's match against Larne at the Oval was postponed following floodlight failure early in the second half with this match replayed in full at a later date.

"This evening's Sports Direct Premiership fixture has been abandoned in the 41st minute following floodlight failure," a statement from Portadown read.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused with further details released in due course."

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Bangor manager Lee Feeney said he thought the result of his side's 2-2 draw against Crusaders "was influenced by the referee".

The Seasiders led 2-0 thanks to goals from Harry Lynch and Ben Cushnie, but two goals in the second half from Stewart Nixon and Fraser Bryden meant the points were shared at Seaview.

Feeney was left bemused following the game and believed that his side should have been awarded a penalty in the final minutes of the game.

"Purely frustrated," Feeney told BBC Sport NI.

"We are 2-0 up and I think we deserved it. Crusaders played some great football, but we had a game plan.

"Ben Arthurs is clean through on the 92nd minute and the man comes straight through from behind and the referee doesn't give a penalty to us. Extremely frustrated and I think the result was influenced by the referee."

The result means that Bangor are now without a win in their last five Premiership matches, with the Crues without a victory in their last four games.

Crusaders manager Declan Caddell praised his players after the draw with his side remaining in 11th position on goal difference.

"We showed character today and that is the main thing for me," Caddell told BBC Sport NI.

"Too many times we have fallen behind and folded and the boys showed character, stood up and there was probably only one team pushing for the winner at the end.

"I am delighted for them. We had a tough few weeks there and this was a game we wanted to get as many points as we could from. We got one and we'll move on."

Image source, Pacemaker

Glentoran assistant coach Paddy McCourt hailed a "moment of magic" from Araron McEneff as his side came from behind to defeat Ballymena United at the Oval.

The Glens fell behind to Igor Rutkowski's strike, but were back on terms before the break as McEneff netted a penalty for his first goal in Glentoran colours since his arriving from Shamrock Rovers.

McEneff would complete the turnaround with a stunning strike after the break to secure a big three points for the east Belfast side, who narrowed the gap to the top following Larne's defeat at Portadown and McCourt was delighted with his side's battling qualities.

"We started well but went behind against the run of play," he told BBC Sport NI.

"The boys responded, as they have done all season and, thankfully, we got the penalty before half-time.

"Aaron slotted it away and that gave us a lift and Aaron produces a moment of magic (for the winner). The boys had to dig in the last six or seven minutes, but we did and it's a great three points."

McEneff was delighted to open his account after making the switch from the League of Ireland champions, Shamrock Rovers, in January and said the objective for all at Glentoran is to keep securing results to remain in the title fight.

"It's a big three points for us," he said.

"I thought we controlled the game really well, especially early on when the keeper pulled off some great saves.

"To go from one down to win 2-1 is a big day for us and personally, it's nice to get two goals. As soon as I got turned (for the second) there was only one thing on my mind and thankfully it went in."

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Larne manager Gary Haveron believes his side "caused a lot of our own problems" as they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Portadown at Shamrock Park.

Jack Scott opened the scoring for the hosts before Andy Ryan drew Larne level. Eamon Fyfe then put the Ports ahead with Chris Gallagher dismissed for the visitors after two yellow card offences.

While Haveron believes the red card early in the second half had an impact, he was left to rue early missed chances from the likes of Paul O'Neill and Ryan as Larne's 18-game unbeaten run in the Irish Premiership came to an end.

"We caused a lot of our own problems today. We should have been three up in the first 20 minutes, we had three one on ones with the goalkeeper and we haven't made him work enough," Haveron told BBC Sport NI.

"The sending off kills us, Cricky is adamant he won the ball. The referee has been massively influenced by five or six players around him to get him booked.

"What was a difficult second half got even more difficult when we were chasing the game. The pitch was bobbly and I thought we got no decisions today, but I'm not blaming the referee because we caused our own problems.

"We got our pocket picked twice, it's two breakaways when we were in control. We created chances and did not take them and it's come back to haunt us."

Ports boss Niall Currie praised his side's ability to hit Larne on the break as they ended a run of four straight league defeats.

"Wonderful day for the club and a great performance," he said.

"To a man, I thought the players were fantastic, their discipline and their counter-attack play."

Image source, Press Eye

Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton said that his side's late 3-2 defeat against Dungannon Swifts was "a real kick in the teeth".

The Reds fell behind after Steven Scott's stunning strike but Joe Gormley drew them level just before the break.

They then went ahead in the second half through a fine individual goal from Brian Healy, but Cahal McGinty equalised for the Swifts before Adam Glenny netted a late penalty after Shaun Leppard brought down Leo Alves in the box.

And Magilton was critical of the second-half goals Cliftonville gave away as they squandered the chance to move into the top six.

"For their equaliser, I think the goalkeeper has to either save it or come for the cross. It's really disappointing because at that stage I felt we were in control and could maybe have gone on to score another couple of goals," he told BBC Sport NI.

"For the third goal, it's really poor defending again. We got opened up, there's a lazy tackle from Sean, it's a penalty, and it's a real kick in the teeth."

Magilton said that individual errors costing his side have been "the story of our season" and something they must address.

"I just thought our turnovers were high when we had chances to control the game," he added.

"We were loose tonight, too loose at times. There's always emotion in the game, and at 2–1, I felt we were in control, but you have to give credit to Dungannon, they're a quality side, and if you give them opportunities, they'll take them."

Watch highlights as Dungannon Swifts fight back to beat Cliftonville 3-2 in the Irish Premiership at Stangmore Park.

Read more: Glenny scores late penalty as Swifts see off Reds

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