Northern Ireland round-up: Top two triumph

Portadown FC and Glentoran FC remain level on points at the top of the Irish League after they both won away today.

Portadown triumph
Portadown secured a 2-1 win at Omagh Town FC while Glentoran won at Cliftonville FC by the same score to keep the title race poised on a knife-edge. Richard Clarke and Kyle Neill both beat Omagh goalkeeper Gavin Cullen within 90 seconds just after half-time to give Portadown a commanding lead at Saint Julian's Road. However, the league leaders endured a nervous last half hour of the game as Ivan Sproule pulled a goal back for Omagh.

Late goal for Glentoran
Portadown still have a game in hand on Glentoran, and Cliftonville almost did them a favour by taking points off their title rivals. Substitute Michael Halliday scored a winner for Glentoran deep into added time after James McDonagh's long-range strike seemed to have secured a share of the points for the home side with 20 minutes to go. Pete Batey had opened the scoring for Glentoran after 32 minutes.

Glenavon overcome Linfield
Elsewhere, the meeting between last season's top two sides saw Glenavon FC win 2-0 against regning champoions Linfield FC at Mourneview Park with Conor Larkin and Gerard McMahon both beating visiting goalkeeper Alan McManus just before the half-time whistle.

More misery for Coleraine
Coleraine FC's late season slump continued as they lost 2-1 against Newry Town FC at The Showgrounds. Honours were shared in the battle of the bottom two as a late goal from striker Paul Millar earned Ards FC a 1-1 draw against Crusaders FC. The point will not stop them from finishing bottom of the table this season, though they will take comfort in the fact that there is no relegation this season.