Irish League Football

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Bangor manager Lee Feeney said he thought the result of his side's 2-2 draw against Crusaders "was influenced by the referee".

The Seasiders led 2-0 thanks to goals from Harry Lynch and Ben Cushnie, but two goals in the second half from Stewart Nixon and Fraser Bryden meant the points were shared at Seaview.

Feeney was left bemused following the game and believed that his side should have been awarded a penalty in the final minutes of the game.

"Purely frustrated," Feeney told BBC Sport NI.

"We are 2-0 up and I think we deserved it. Crusaders played some great football, but we had a game plan.

"Ben Arthurs is clean through on the 92nd minute and the man comes straight through from behind and the referee doesn't give a penalty to us. Extremely frustrated and I think the result was influenced by the referee."

The result means that Bangor are now without a win in their last five Premiership matches, with the Crues without a victory in their last four games.

Crusaders manager Declan Caddell praised his players after the draw with his side remaining in 11th position on goal difference.

"We showed character today and that is the main thing for me," Caddell told BBC Sport NI.

"Too many times we have fallen behind and folded and the boys showed character, stood up and there was probably only one team pushing for the winner at the end.

"I am delighted for them. We had a tough few weeks there and this was a game we wanted to get as many points as we could from. We got one and we'll move on."

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Glentoran assistant coach Paddy McCourt hailed a "moment of magic" from Araron McEneff as his side came from behind to defeat Ballymena United at the Oval.

The Glens fell behind to Igor Rutkowski's strike, but were back on terms before the break as McEneff netted a penalty for his first goal in Glentoran colours since his arriving from Shamrock Rovers.

McEneff would complete the turnaround with a stunning strike after the break to secure a big three points for the east Belfast side, who narrowed the gap to the top following Larne's defeat at Portadown and McCourt was delighted with his side's battling qualities.

"We started well but went behind against the run of play," he told BBC Sport NI.

"The boys responded, as they have done all season and, thankfully, we got the penalty before half-time.

"Aaron slotted it away and that gave us a lift and Aaron produces a moment of magic (for the winner). The boys had to dig in the last six or seven minutes, but we did and it's a great three points."

McEneff was delighted to open his account after making the switch from the League of Ireland champions, Shamrock Rovers, in January and said the objective for all at Glentoran is to keep securing results to remain in the title fight.

"It's a big three points for us," he said.

"I thought we controlled the game really well, especially early on when the keeper pulled off some great saves.

"To go from one down to win 2-1 is a big day for us and personally, it's nice to get two goals. As soon as I got turned (for the second) there was only one thing on my mind and thankfully it went in."

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Larne manager Gary Haveron believes his side "caused a lot of our own problems" as they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Portadown at Shamrock Park.

Jack Scott opened the scoring for the hosts before Andy Ryan drew Larne level. Eamon Fyfe then put the Ports ahead with Chris Gallagher dismissed for the visitors after two yellow card offences.

While Haveron believes the red card early in the second half had an impact, he was left to rue early missed chances from the likes of Paul O'Neill and Ryan as Larne's 18-game unbeaten run in the Irish Premiership came to an end.

"We caused a lot of our own problems today. We should have been three up in the first 20 minutes, we had three one on ones with the goalkeeper and we haven't made him work enough," Haveron told BBC Sport NI.

"The sending off kills us, Cricky is adamant he won the ball. The referee has been massively influenced by five or six players around him to get him booked.

"What was a difficult second half got even more difficult when we were chasing the game. The pitch was bobbly and I thought we got no decisions today, but I'm not blaming the referee because we caused our own problems.

"We got our pocket picked twice, it's two breakaways when we were in control. We created chances and did not take them and it's come back to haunt us."

Ports boss Niall Currie praised his side's ability to hit Larne on the break as they ended a run of four straight league defeats.

"Wonderful day for the club and a great performance," he said.

"To a man, I thought the players were fantastic, their discipline and their counter-attack play."

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Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton said that his side's late 3-2 defeat against Dungannon Swifts was "a real kick in the teeth".

The Reds fell behind after Steven Scott's stunning strike but Joe Gormley drew them level just before the break.

They then went ahead in the second half through a fine individual goal from Brian Healy, but Cahal McGinty equalised for the Swifts before Adam Glenny netted a late penalty after Shaun Leppard brought down Leo Alves in the box.

And Magilton was critical of the second-half goals Cliftonville gave away as they squandered the chance to move into the top six.

"For their equaliser, I think the goalkeeper has to either save it or come for the cross. It's really disappointing because at that stage I felt we were in control and could maybe have gone on to score another couple of goals," he told BBC Sport NI.

"For the third goal, it's really poor defending again. We got opened up, there's a lazy tackle from Sean, it's a penalty, and it's a real kick in the teeth."

Magilton said that individual errors costing his side have been "the story of our season" and something they must address.

"I just thought our turnovers were high when we had chances to control the game," he added.

"We were loose tonight, too loose at times. There's always emotion in the game, and at 2–1, I felt we were in control, but you have to give credit to Dungannon, they're a quality side, and if you give them opportunities, they'll take them."

Watch highlights as Dungannon Swifts fight back to beat Cliftonville 3-2 in the Irish Premiership at Stangmore Park.

Read more: Glenny scores late penalty as Swifts see off Reds

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Tuesday's Irish Premiership match between Ballymena United and Crusaders has been postponed following a pitch inspection.

It is the fifth time that a scheduled match at the Ballymena Showgrounds has been postponed this year.

The remaining five matches are set to go ahead as planned with all games available on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website by using the multi-screen option.

This announcement follows the league fixture against Glenavon at the Showgrounds being postponed on 3 January as well as two attempts to play an Irish Cup fifth round tie against Larne, on 10 and 20 January.

Ballymena United and Portadown's league match also fell victim to the rain meaning only two of the fixtures due to be played at Warden Street have gone ahead in 2026.

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Crusaders have completed the signings of striker Rebecca Bassett and midfielder Mia Fitzsimmons from Linfield.

Bassett, 27, signed for the Blues in 2018 and won two league titles and a League Cup with the club.

Fitzsimmons has been with Linfield for 10 years and captained the team in recent years.

Elsewhere, Hannah Doherty has also left Ryan McConville’s side and returned to Cliftonville for a third spell.

The defender was part of the Reds' treble-winning season in 2024 during her previous spell at the club.

The Reds have lost midfielder Naomi McLaughlin, who signed for Scottish side Aberdeen.