Glens close gap at top as Crues move off bottom spot

Glentoran could only narrow the gap to league leaders Larne by a point to four points after they drew 1-1 against 10-man Coleraine at the Oval in their final pre-split fixture on Saturday.

There was a lengthy stoppage in play in east Belfast early in the first half due to an injury to visiting striker James Akintunde.

Jamie McGonigle gave Coleraine the lead on 44 minutes before the away side were reduced to 10 men when Rowan McDonald was given his marching orders for a challenge on Pat Hoban.

Jordan Stewart nodded home an equaliser for the Glens before Hoban's penalty was denied by Ryan Schofield.

At Shamrock Park, Crusaders moved off the bottom of the Irish Premiership after a goalless draw with Portadown.

Elsewhere, Bangor ended their nine-game run without a win thanks to Iestyn Hughes' goal against Dungannon Swifts at Stangmore Park.

In Saturday night's game Ballymena recovered from a 2-0 half-time deficit to draw 2-2 with Cliftonville.

Sean Robertson and Brian Healy had the hosts seemingly in control but Igor Rutkowski equalised from the penalty spot after Rory Hale had been sent-off and then James Hood's shot was deflected into his own net by Joe Toole.

Less than a minute into the game, Coleraine striker Akintunde went down under the challenge of MJ Kamson-Kamara and was unable to continue, being stretchered off to heartfelt applause from both sets of supporters.

The remainder of the first half was rather uneventful until the 44th minute, when substitute McGonigle raced on to Will Patching's looping throughball before calmly finding the bottom corner despite being off balance.

The Bannsiders were reduced to 10 men just before half-time when McDonald was sent off for a late challenge on Hoban as Glentoran looked to break.

It was all Glentoran in the second half as they tried to make their one-man advantage count.

They eventually did in the 75th minute as substitute Stewart converted Ross Clarke's deep cross to draw his side level.

Hoban had the chance to put the east Belfast side in front six minutes later, but was unable to convert from the spot as stopper Schofield dived to his right to deny the prolific striker.

The hosts continued to huff and puff late on but couldn't find a second goal meaning they trail Larne by four points as we head into the Irish Premiership split.

A stop-start first half produced few chances with Portadown going close when Jacob Blaney's back header fell short of its target and James Teelan nipping in, but Crusaders keeper Jonny Tuffey was off his line quickly to block the winger's effort.

Crusaders thought they had gone ahead just after the hour mark when Robbie Weir's shot deflected into the path of the in-rushing Stewart Nixon, who slotted into the bottom corner, but the referee's assistant's flag was already raised.

Almost immediately, at the other end, Teelan's shot from an acute angle came off the base of the post and went wide.

As both sides searched for the decisive opening goal, Portadown left-back Aaron Traynor saw his low shot diverted behind by Tuffey.

Deep in stoppage time, Ben Quinn met Jack Scott's cross with a header. However, Tuffey was able to dive to his left to comfortably save the effort as Crusaders held on for a draw which sees move a point above Glenavon, who now occupy bottom spot.

Iestyn Hughes blasted the visitors in front after just nine minutes thanks to a fine finish and some slack defending.

Dungannon failed to deal with a long throw into the box and, when the ball fell at the feet of Hughes, the defender rifled a shot high into the roof of the net past a helpless Declan Dunne for his first goal of the campaign.

The visitors thought they had doubled their lead midway through the half, but Stephen Fallon's effort was chalked off, while Ben Cushnie flashed an acrobatic shot narrowly wide of the target.

At the other end, Tiernan Kelly headed wide from close range when it looked easier to score and Andy Mitchell's clever lob went just the wrong side of the post with Gareth Deane stranded.

The home side dominated possession after half-time but failed to trouble Deane in the Seasiders goal.

Second-half substitute Kobei Moore came close to levelling when he got on the end of an Adam Glenny cross, but Deane saved at his near post.

Fellow substitute – 15-year-old Rocco Devlin – thought he had won the home side a penalty in the closing seconds, but referee Mark Milligan booked the teenager for simulation and waved away the penalty appeals.

Cliftonville enjoyed a dream start when Ballymena defender Daithi McCallion underhit his pass back to Bradley Wade, allowing Robertson to nip in ahead of the goalkeeper to slot home the opener.

After sustaining a short spell of pressure, the Reds doubled their advantage as Josh Kelly exchanged passes with Rory Hale before driving into the box and squaring for Healy, who shrugged off Stephen O'Donnell and coolly slotted beyond Wade.

Moments later, Jim Magilton's men threatened again when Hale slid a neat through ball into Robertson, who chopped inside and drove towards the near post, but Wade spread himself well to make the save.

However, after the restart, the contest turned on its head when Hale was shown a straight red card for a late challenge on Rutkowski in the area.

The away side took full advantage as Rutkowski stepped up to take the resulting spot kick himself and made no mistake from 12 yards.

After defending for large parts of the second half, Cliftonville almost restored their two-goal cushion when Kelly launched a long throw into the area, which Michael Glynn diverted into the path of Healy, whose backward header clipped the upright.

Midway through the second half, the turnaround was complete when substitute James Hood's low effort was deflected beyond Morrison by Joe Toole to draw the visitors level.

Ballymena dominated the remainder of the game and continued to probe, but were unable to find a late winner.