Carrick, Glens and Sky Blues continue winning runs

Early pacesetters Glentoran continued their winning start to the Irish Premiership season as they beat Crusaders 2-0 at Seaview.

The Glens made it four wins and four clean sheets in a row as goals from Jordan Jenkins and Josh Kelly before half-time sealed the victory.

Unbeaten Coleraine moved up to second as a late goal from substitute Matthew Shevlin helped them to a 2-1 victory against 10-man Glenavon, who are without a win.

Ballymena United, who are also yet to concede this season, recorded a third straight win as they eased to a 4-0 home triumph against Bangor.

After a slow start to the game, the away side took the lead in the 31st minute after Liam Burt’s delivery was flicked on by James Singleton towards Jenkins, whose strike crashed off right hand post.

However, the Crusaders ‘ defence was slow to react which gave the striker time to fire home the rebound.

Deep into first-half additional time, Kelly doubled Glentoran’s lead when he steered Danny Amos ‘ flicked on free-kick past Jonny Tuffey for his first goal since joining the Glens in 2023.

Just after the restart Singleton thought he had extended Declan Devine’s side’s advantage when his header found the back of the net, but he was offside.

The Bannsiders broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time through the unlikely source of defender Adam Long.

On the pitch as a first-half substitute following an injury to Charles Dunne, he was in the right place at the right time to get on the end of a Lewis McGregor cross to the back post to score on his debut.

Earlier, the dangerous McGregor rattled the Glenavon crossbar with a ferocious drive after evading the challenges of two home defender and letting fly from just inside the penalty area.

At the other end, the hosts were restricted to few chances though Jack Malone tested Coleraine goalkeeper Aidan Harris with a well-struck effort from distance while Stephen Mallon curled a left-footed effort over the crossbar from 20 yards.

The home side improved after the break, and they were rewarded for their efforts with an equaliser 20 minutes from the end.

Second-half substitute Francely Lomboto was denied by a brilliant point blank save from Harris but Paul McGovern, following up, swept home the rebound to register Glenavon’s first goal of the campaign.

Lomboto’s day ended early, however, when he was shown a straight red card by referee Mark Dillon following an incident in the centre circle with Lyndon Kane.

The home side took a sixth-minute lead when David Toure’s cross from the right brushed off the head of Ben Kennedy but fell kindly for Calvin McCurry to guide a shot into the bottom corner of the net.

Bangor might well have levelled on the quarter-hour mark when Kyle Owens met Lewis Harrison’s cross with a thumping header, but United keeper Sean O’Neill sprang across his goal to push the effort away.

Instead, the home side doubled their advantage from the penalty spot on 20 minutes after Harrison bundled over Toure near the edge of the penalty area and Kennedy sent 16-year-old keeper Lawton McMahon the wrong way from the penalty spot.

McMahon did well to prevent Ballymena from netting a third in the first half when he dived to his right to push away Kennedy’s 25-yard effort.

But Ballymena did grab a third goal less than two minutes into the second period as Patrick McEleney’s pass was laid off by McCurry to Kian Corbally, who arrowed a left-footed shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area.

The same player added United’s fourth on 66 minutes when he reacted quickest to nod home from close range after Kennedy’s 25-yard shot had crashed off the crossbar.

Luke McCullough stood up the ball for Lecky’s first goal, with the striker nodding home from six yards out.

Danny Gibson was the provider for the second, with his cross-finding Lecky at the back post and the frontman sent a powerful header beyond Declan Dunne.

Near the end of the first half, Carrick should have made it three, with Jimmy Callacher and Matthew Snoddy coming close with quickfire efforts.

In the opening stages of the second half, Lecky should have sealed his hat-trick after a Jack Scott cross found him in space in the box. However, the ball seemed to strike Lecky’s thigh and his effort sailed over the crossbar.