Larne defeat Cliftonville to move into fifth place

Larne leapfrogged four teams to move into fifth place in the Irish Premiership table thanks to a 2-0 win over Cliftonville at Inver Park on Friday night.

Luke Conlan turned the ball into his own net from Joe Thomson's delivery from the left 40 seconds after half-time and Dylan Sloan drilled in from close range in the 79th minute to double the Invermen's advantage.

Just before the break Ryan Curran had the ball in the net but his 'goal' was controversially chalked off for offside.

Larne have now won three and drawn two of their past five league games and sit 16 points behind pacesetters Linfield with four games in hand over the Blues as they aim to secure a third successive top flight title.

Cliftonville drop to sixth in the standings on the back of four straight league defeats - the first time in six years that the Reds have endured such a disappointing sequence of results.

There are five further Premiership matches scheduled for Saturday afternoon, including leaders Linfield at home to Carrick Rangers and second-placed Glentoran on the road at Ballymena United.

Chances at both ends

Early efforts from Sloan and Conor McKendry for Larne were comfortably dealt with by Lewis Ridd while for Cliftonville Jonny Addis flashed a left-foot shot wide of the post.

The hosts came close to breaking the deadlock when Levi Ives' powerful shot cannoned off the left-hand post and Sloan's follow-up attempt was saved by Ridd.

Then Curran headed into the net from Rory Hale's cross before half-time but the effort was disallowed.

The visitors' disappointment was compounded in the first minute of the second half as Conlan's own goal, as he was under pressure from Sloan, after good work by Ives and Thomson down the left, saw Larne go in front.

McKendry could have doubled the lead when he rifled over from close range and then Hale spurned a glorious chance to equalise as he skewed a shot wide of the post.

Aaron Donnelly and Benji Magee were involved in the build-up as Sloan drove home the second to ensure the three points stayed in east Antrim.