Northern Ireland round-up: Omagh on top

Omagh top
Still top of the table are little Omagh Town FC, the Tyrone team having held on to pole position with a 4-1 victory at bottom side Newry Town FC on Friday night.

Sproule strikes
Newry went in front through John Joe Maguire on the half-hour but Ivan Sproule helped Omagh turn the game around in the second half. First, his cross was deflected in by home skipper Raymond Byrne, then substitute Austin Friel scored before striker Sproule added two more quick goals on 75 and 80 minutes.

Portadown downed
Portadown failed to close the gap on the leaders as they slumped to a 2-1 home defeat by Coleraine FC, the visitors leapfrogging them into third place. Jody Tolan put the Bannsiders ahead on 15 minutes before Barry Curran tapped in to secure the points for Coleraine in the dying seconds. Portadown's consolation was an injury-time penalty from Vinny Arkins.

Solitary goal
Glentoran moved above Portadown and Coleraine - and into second position - with a hard-fought 1-0 success at Cliftonville FC. Gary Smyth's 76th-minute free-kick divided the sides at Solitude.

Windsor show
Linfield finally had a victory to celebrate with a 3-1 home triumph over Ards FC that lifted the Blues above their opponents and into eighth spot. The Windsor Park crowd had to wait an hour for a goal, which came from Glenn Ferguson's penalty. Substitute Lee Feeney and Stephen Shaw extended the lead before Ards managed a late reply through David Scullion's deflected effort.

Glenavon joy
Glenavon FC continued their revival with a 2-0 win at struggling Crusaders FC, Conor Forker and John Devine registering for the Lurgan Blues at Seaview.

Bad taste for Distillery
Institute FC won the battle of the promoted teams with a 2-1 success at Lisburn Distillery FC. Goals from Stute's Ryan Semple and Stephen Parkhouse sandwiched a Mark Holland effort.