Irish League Football

Lauren McCann
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Annagh United boss Ciaran McGurgan said it would be "unbelievable" to win the promotion/relegation play-off against Carrick Rangers and earn a place in the Irish Premiership.

Saturday's 2-0 win against Ards secured second spot for Annagh in the Championship and a place in the play-offs after a superb run of eight straight league wins.

Having lost out to Portadown and Dungannon Swifts in their two previous play-offs, McGurgan hopes they can get over the line at the third time of asking.

"The run we have been on has been unbelievable and it would be unbelievable if we could reach the Irish Premiership," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Sportsound.

"We're under no illusions it is going to be a tough task, but hopefully we can put on a performance.

"This is our third play-off in fourth years, I'm just hoping it's third time lucky."

Annagh host Carrick at Tandragee Park on Tuesday before travelling to Taylors Avenue for the second leg against the Premiership side.

McGurgan believes that Carrick having home advantage in the second leg will give the Premiership side an edge.

"We've just kept the focus on ourselves, we know what Carrick are about, they're experienced and a big physical team, we have different attributes to that so hopefully we can cause them problems," he continued.

"Unfortunately, these ties seem to favour the Irish Premiership team but all we can do is try get something Tuesday to hold on to going into Friday and see where it takes us."

You can follow live text commentary with in-play clips from both legs of the play-off on the BBC Sport NI website

Image source, Inpho and Pacemaker Press

Four players from Irish Premiership champions Linfield have been named in the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association Team of the Year.

Matthew Orr, Euan East, Joel Cooper and Matthew Fitzpatrick make up the Blues' quartet after they helped Linfield win the Gibson Cup for a record-extending 57th time before the split.

Eighteen-year-old Orr has impressed in his first year with the senior team and has also been nominated for Young Player of the Year.

He has been a virtual ever-present for David Healy's side in their defence alongside East, who has excelled in a number of different positions.

Cooper, who is up for Irish Premiership Player of the Year, scored 19 league goals in his final season for Linfield before his departure to Coleraine in the summer, whilst Fitzpatrick found the net 12 times.

Glentoran have three players in the team whilst Cliftonville and Dungannon Swifts each have two representatives.

Glens goalkeeper Daniel Gyollai, defender Kodi Lyons-Foster and midfielder Fuad Sule have all been included from Declan Devine's side who finished third and reached the BetMcLean League Cup final.

Swifts left-back Adam Glenny and midfielder Gael Bigirimana, who is also nominated for Player of the Year, feature after helping Rodney McAree's side to a fourth-place league finish and an Irish Cup final.

Reds captain Rory Hale was named in the team alongside Player of the Year nominee Joe Gormley, who finished as the league's joint top goal scorer with 20 goals.

The duo were key to Cliftonville winning the BetMcLean Cup in March and they will look to win a cup double when the Reds face the Swifts in the Irish Cup final on 3 May.

NIFWA Team of the Year: Daniel Gyollai (Glentoran), Matthew Orr (Linfield), Kodi-Lyons Foster (Glentoran), Euan East (Linfield), Adam Glenny (Dungannon Swifts), Gael Bigirimana (Dungannon Swifts), Fuad Sule (Glentoran), Rory Hale (Cliftonville), Joel Cooper (Linfield), Joe Gormley (Cliftonville), Matthew Fitzpatrick (Linfield)

Image source, Inpho

Carrick Rangers boss Stephen Baxter said his side's Irish Premiership promotion/relegation play-off against Annagh United will be a "very tough task".

The first leg of the play-off will take place on Tuesday at Tandragee Park with the second leg at Taylors Avenue on Friday.

Annagh finished second in the Championship after winning their last eight games in a row and Baxter knows they come into the game as the form side.

"Saturday was their eighth win on the trot and that is some going in the Championship," he told BBC Sport NI.

"We've been able to watch all three of the teams challenging at the top of the division over the last couple of months so we're certainly very aware of how they play."

"They're very well coached and they play to their strengths. They have capable players who have played in the Irish Premiership, it is going to be a very tough task for us, but we need to be up to that challenge."

Baxter rested a number of key players as Carrick suffered a 4-0 defeat against Glenavon in their final league game on Saturday in order to have them in prime condition for the play-off.

"We need to have all the players fully fit and ready to play which I think they are, and we need to get our heads down over two legs and try win this game," he added.

"If your best is good enough you will win and get through."

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Former Glenavon boss Gary Hamilton has been appointed as the new manager of Premier Intermediate side Ballymacash Rangers.

Hamilton has been out of management since he was sacked by the Lurgan Blues in September 2023 after almost 12 years in charge of the Irish Premiership club.

The former Northern Ireland international took over as player-manager in December 201, steering them off the bottom of the table and helping them avoid relegation during his first season in charge.

He THEN led the Mid-Ulster club to two Irish Cup successes in 2014 and 2016, four third-place finishes, and the European football that came with that.

Lisburn-based club Ballymacash finished fifth in the third tier this season.

Image source, Press Eye

Larne boss Gary Haveron said that the post-match scenes in their goalless draw with Glentoran were "really unsavoury".

After the full-time whistle, a mass brawl broke out on the pitch at Inver Park, with punches thrown.

Aaron Donnelly and Conor McKendry were sent off for the Inver outfit whilst Christie Pattison and Fuad Sule were dismissed for the Glens.

And Haveron was disappointed that those scenes will overshadow the result which ensured that Larne finished second and secured automatic European qualification.

"Passions were running really high, sometimes they boil over and it was really unsavoury," he told BBC Sport NI.

"It is not something you want to see at games. We pride ourselves on being a family club, there are a lot of kids in the stand and that is not how you end the game of football, but when someone comes on and attacks one of your teammates it is only natural you are going to react to it and that Glentoran would react to that."

"It's not something we want to be associated with, and it is disappointing that that is what the talking points will be and not the grit and determination to get over the line against a good Glentoran side that threw the kitchen sink at us but couldn't break us."

Haveron said that having watched the brawl back he hopes that the main perpetrators will be dealt with accordingly.

"You have to say to the boys to step back because it drags on and on but there was an antagonist," he added.

"People will get punished and rightfully so, I hope the antagonist is punished the most."

Glentoran boss Declan Devine said that he would be "more frustrated if my players lay down and took punches" following ugly scenes after his side's goalless draw with Larne.

After the full-time whistle, with the result having secured Larne second place and automatic European qualification, a mass brawl broke out on the pitch at Inver Park, with punches thrown.

Christie Pattison and Fuad Sule were sent off for the Glens whilst Aaron Donnelly and Conor McKendry were dismissed for Larne.

Whilst admitting he "didn't see much of it" and condemning that violence was used, Devine defended his players.

"My players stood up for each other on and off the pitch. I'd be more frustrated if my players lay down and took punches," he told BBC Sport NI.

"I'm extremely proud of the players, I want fight and commitment, maybe not to the level after the game, but it takes two to tango.

"There are certain players in our changing room who are frustrated with certain members of the Larne team instigating fights."

Devine says he intends to watch the post-match scenes back to get a "clearer picture" of what happened.

"There were a lot of handbags. Tensions were really high and there was a big prize at stake," he added.

"Of course, you shouldn't lift your hands on a football pitch in the 90 minutes and there were a few digs thrown in the 18-yard box in the second half, but no room for violent actions at all during and after the game."

The Glens boss will now have to pick his players up for the European play-offs.

"My only focus now is on the frustration that we didn't win this game. We didn't lose second place here today we lost it last week at Dungannon and before that at Crusaders when we dropped points."