Irish Premiership: Glentoran score five as Glenavon and Dungannon also win

Glentoran hammered Ballymena United 5-0 on Saturday as Glenavon beat Loughgall 2-0 and Dungannon Swifts earned a key 4-1 victory over Newry City to move off the foot of the Premiership table.

Substitute Junior scored twice as the Glens scored four goals in 13 first-half minutes to take control.

Tomas Galvin's double helped Dungannon move two points ahead of Newry, who replace the Swifts at the basement.

Meanwhile Glenavon made it four straight wins in the top flight.

Isaac Baird gave the Lurgan Blues an early lead against their mid-table opposition, with Jack Malone adding a second shortly before the interval.

Larne beat Coleraine 2-0 on Friday night and Carrick Rangers host Cliftonville on Sunday afternoon, while the scheduled fixture between Crusaders and Linfield was postponed because of international call-ups.

Glens ease past Ballymena

For fifth-placed Glentoran, their comprehensive victory over the 10-man Sky Blues gave them a first league win in four games.

The hosts lost Jay Donnelly to an early injury before they hit Ballymena with a three-goal blitz inside six minutes.

Firstly, defender Aidan Wilson arrived unmarked to head home a Cammy Palmer corner at the back post before Donnelly's replacement, Junior, swivelled to fire home a second goal from a Fuad Sule cross three minutes later.

Junior was on hand to slide home a third goal at the back post on 29 minutes after a diagonal ball had been helped back across the face of goal by Jonathan Russell.

A fourth goal followed on 36 minutes as Palmer's corner was helped back into the danger area by Daire O'Connor and James Singleton steered a stylish first time volley into the top corner.

A fifth goal duly arrived five minutes into the second period as Niall McGinn fed a pass into the feet of David Fisher and his shot from the edge of the area looped up and over O'Neill.

Ballymena's misery was compounded on 66 minutes when midfielder Donal Rocks was sent off after collecting two yellow cards for fouls inside a six minute spell.

At Stangmore Park, Matthew Lusty had already blazed a good chance over the crossbar before he opened the scoring for the home side in the sixth minute with a low shot into the corner from the 15 yards.

His forward partner Galvin then got in on the act, scoring twice in seven minutes to stretch the lead to 3-0.

Firstly, he was quickest to react after Kealan Dillon's free-kick from the edge of the box had been pushed on to the crossbar by Newry 'keeper Tom Murphy, the striker leaping highest to head home from a couple of yards.

Then, 10 minutes before half-time, he showed great skill to swivel and volley high into the roof of the net after good work from Dillon and Leo Alves.

Newry City were thrown a lifeline on the stroke of half-time when Swifts' skipper Dean Curry out through his own net to make it 3-1 at the break.

The visitors missed two great chances in the opening stages of the second half and were made to pay with a quarter of the game remaining.

Sub Ethan Devine was barely on the pitch when he cracked home a right foot drive from just inside the penalty area to finally make the game safe with 20 minutes to play.

Victory sees the Swifts leapfrog both Newry City and Ballymena United to climb out of the relegation zone at the end of a pulsating 90 minutes.

More to follow.