Irish Premiership: Linfield beat 10-man Glenavon to return to the top of the table again

Linfield returned to the top of the Irish Premiership table once again with a 2-0 win away to 10-man Glenavon.

Third-placed Cliftonville had a comfortable 4-1 win over Loughgall while 10-man Glentoran beat Newry City 1-0 to go fourth.

Dungannon Swifts beat Coleraine 3-2 after late drama at the Showgrounds.

Linfield travelled to Mourneview Park having been knocked off top spot in the table when Larne went two points ahead of them by beating Crusaders 3-0 on Friday night.

Glenavon gave themselves an uphill task when midfielder Garrett was shown a straight red card on 17 minutes for a late challenge on Blues captain Jamie Mulgrew.

David Healy’s side took advantage of their extra man and broke the deadlock on 34 minutes, with Annett scoring his third goal in two games.

The young Linfield forward got on the end of a Kyle McClean cutback, rifling into the bottom corner from just inside the box.

Linfield doubled their lead 14 minutes from time when second-half substitute Aodhan Doherty burst through midfield before releasing Cooper down the left, with the lively winger making no mistake with a fine, low finish.

Cliftonville win to continue unbeaten run

Cliftonville made it six matches unbeaten after a Ronan Hale double helped the north Belfast side to a 4-1 win over 10-man Loughgall at Lakeview Park.

Hale opened the scoring in the 20th minute after Berratt Turker failed to clear a Cliftonville corner, with the frontman taking full advantage by volleying home from close range to earn the Reds a deserved lead.

Just 11 minutes later, Hale had his, and the visitors’, second of the afternoon after the former Larne man rounded Turker before slotting into an empty goal for his seventh goal in his last seven appearances.

Chris Gallagher produced the goal of the game midway through the second half when the former Glentoran man fired into Truker’s bottom corner from 25 yards.

Nathanial Ferris pulled one back for the hosts, but any momentum was lost after Aaron Duke was given a straight red card for a stamp on David Odumosu.

There was still time for a fourth after substitute Chris Curran slotted home in injury time to ensure the points for Jim Magilton’s side.

An afternoon to forget for Dean Smith was compounded in the aftermath of the Reds opener when the Loughgall boss was sent to the stands for his protests over the awarding of a corner that led to his side falling behind.

Glens overcome losing Wilson to beat Newry

Shay McCartan scored the only goal of the game in the 29th minute at the Oval as Glentoran overcame losing defender Aidan Wilson to a straight red card immediately after taking the lead.

It was a quiet opening to the game with the home side breaking the deadlock when Niall McGinn’s looping corner was headed down by Wilson into the path of McCartan, who bundled home from close range.

Less than a minute after grabbing the assist for the goal, Wilson was shown a straight red card by Lee Tavinder for a stamping incident.

Just after the restart, the Glens came close to extending their lead when David Fisher connected with a well-timed pass by McCartan with Steven Maguire making a good save.

Fisher did get to the rebound, but it deflected off Newry captain Stephen Moan, with the home side unable to take advantage from the resulting corner.

On the 67th minute, substitute Junior played a clever through ball to Daire O’Connor whose right-footed effort was inches wide of the left-hand post.

The home side continued to dominate proceedings until the final whistle, with Newry unable to take advantage of the extra man. Their best chance was when Georgie Poynton’s effort from the edge of the box curled over the crossbar.

Swifts beat Coleraine with dramatic late comeback

Dungannon Swifts staged a remarkable comeback to defeat Coleraine and make it back-to-back league wins.

The Swifts led 1-0 at half-time thanks to Matthew Lusty’s well-taken penalty in the 38th minute but all the drama came late in the second half.

The game turned on its head in four dramatic minutes as first Ciaran O’Hara and then Dean Jarvis scored for the hosts.

Teenager O’Hara netted for a second week in succession in the 69th minute with a cool finish from a Conor McKendry assist, side footing into the roof of the net from 12 yards.

And the comeback appeared complete minutes later as Dean Jarvis acrobatically fired the. Bannsiders in front for the first time from a Jamie Glackin cross.

Substitute Tomas Galvin levelled with three minutes of normal time remaining as he blasted past Gareth Deane from close range.

There was still time for a winner as Matthew Lusty scored from the rebound after Deane had saved his initial strike from the penalty spot.