RACE ISN’T OVAL YET..

Glens determined to make Linfield work for it as Rory comes back to haunt Reds

GLENTORAN climbed to second in the table as Rory Donnelly came back to haunt his former club Cliftonville at Solitude last night.

Donnelly’s ninth goal of the season – a close range finish on the hour mark – and a deflected Ciaran O’connor effort eased the Big Two giants to three crucial points in north Belfast.

Victory leapfrogged the Glens above Coleraine and into second in the Premiership which carries the added bonus of automatic European football next season.

It also moved Oval men 10 points behind leaders Linfield, who need three wins from their remaining six league games between now and May 29 to be crowned champions.

It was 1-0 to Glentoran in the 58th minute when Rory Donnelly rounded off a slick move involving strike partners Robbie Mcdaid, Jay Donnelly and Andrew Mitchell.

A nice interchange between Mcdaid and Jay Donnelly released Mitchell and his low effort across the face of goal fell for Rory Donnelly to fire home.

It was game over in the 87th minute when O’connor’s drive was deflected past Aaron Mccarey off unfortunate Reds defender Garry Breen.

A frustrating night for Cliftonville, who were unbeaten in nine games at home prior to kick-off, got worse on the final whistle when boss Paddy Mclaughlin appeared to be red carded for dissent.

Elsewhere, fourth-placed Larne failed to close the gap on the top three after falling to a last-gasp 2-1 defeat to Portadown at Shamrock Park.

A Stephen Teggart screamer had the Ports ahead, before Larne – who saw Andy Mitchell’s first half penalty saved by Jacob Carney – levelled through Josh Robinson.

Larne twice rattled the woodwork before the Ports won it at the death, Mark Randall’s mistake punished by Lee Bonis, who slotted home.

A big three points for Matthew Tipton’s men and a major blow to Larne’s hopes of chasing down second place and automatic European football next season.

Meanwhile, Glenavon boosted their top six hopes with a pulsating 4-3 win over Warrenpoint Town at Milltown.

The visitors led 4-1 at half-time thanks to Matthew Fitzpatrick’s fifth goal in eight outings and a Daniel Purkis hat-trick, his third of the night coming from the penalty spot.

But Town, who had pulled it back to 2-1 through Ryan Swann, teed up a grandstand finish with goals from Adam Carroll and Francis Mccaffrey.

DONN & DUSTED Rory Donnelly celebrates his goal against Cliftonville with brother Jay last night