Northern Ireland round-up: Glentoran beat the freeze

Glentoran FC took advantage of freezing weather to move to the top of the Northern Irish Premier Division table with a 1-0 win at Glenavon FC.

Cold weather
With the cold in Northern Ireland having caused the games between Newry Town FC and Portadown FC, Crusaders FC and Coleraine FC and Lisburn Distillery's home match against Ards FC to be postponed, Glentoran moved three points clear at the top of the table.

Penalty kick
The Belfast side were level on points with Portadown but had trailed the champions by a single goal before they won their game in hand at Mourneview Park. Glentoran dominated the game but they needed a penalty kick to secure their 1-0 win.

Smith converts
Colin Nixon thought he had won a penalty in the first half but the referee waved play on and Glentoran could not make the breakthrough. Then, on the hour, right-back Nixon fell under the challenge of the Glenavon goalkeeper and a spot kick was awarded. Striker Andy Smith made no mistake, coolly converting against his former club.

Goalless draw
Elsewhere on Saturday, Linfield FC and Cliftonville FC shared a goalless draw at Windsor Park although both sides missed good chances. Gerard Crossley dragged his shot wide with only Linfield goalkeeper Alan Mannus to beat, then at the other end Linfield striker Glenn Ferguson headed against the bar with Paul Straney beaten.

Jeffrey dismissed
Stephen Shaw, Chris Morgan, and William Murphy came close for the hosts but they could not score and manager David Jeffrey's frustration led to him being dismissed from the dug-out.

Friday game
On Friday night lowly Institute FC came from behind to record a 3-1 home victory against Omagh Town FC and continue the visitors' recent woes, extending their winless run to eight matches.

Powerful header
Barry Patton put the Tyrone team into the lead at the Riverside Stadium, the centre-forward scoring seven minutes before the break. However, Adrian Creane equalised for Institute in the 64th minute with a powerful header and then a double from Alan Blair made the difference.

Blair double
Blair fired Institute in front with 20 minutes remaining and within five minutes he made sure of victory when he rounded the goalkeeper and slotted the ball into the net.