Coleraine close in on summit as Lecky is on song for Crusaders

Coleraine took advantage of Linfield’s defeat to close the gap on the league leaders to two points after their 2-0 win over Portadown.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

The Bannsiders opened the scoring from the penalty spot as Greg Hall was penalised for handball from Curtis Allen’s shot.

Ben Doherty, making his first start since January 2, slotted home.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Lee Bonis and Adam Salley both had chances to level things up but failed to take them. Coleraine wrapped up the points with ten minutes to go as that man Doherty fired home from the spot again.

Adam Lecky is mobbed by his Crusaders team-mates after completing his hat-trickAdam Lecky is mobbed by his Crusaders team-mates after completing his hat-trick
Adam Lecky is mobbed by his Crusaders team-mates after completing his hat-trick

At Inver Park there wasn’t much action until the half hour as Fuad Sule saw red following a coming together with Crusaders midielder Declan Caddell.

Paul Heatley came closest to a first half goal as he rattled the woodwork.

Eight minutes into the second half Adam Lecky broke the deadlock at the second attempt after Conor Devlin had saved his initial effort.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

And the big striker wrapped the points up with 20 minutes to go as he grabbed a second. And there was time for him to complete his hat-trick from another Heatley cross.

At Ballymena it looked like it was going to be a draw until Ryan Curran netted from the spot after Daire O’Connor was brought down in the area by goalkeeper Ross Glendinning.

That shot the hosts into life and Shay McCartan fired in a spectacular equaliser with five minutes to go.

At Milltown Warrenpoint fought back from Ben Gallagher’s early goal for Dungannon Swifts to win 4-1.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Alan O’Sullivan scored a brace and missed a penalty with Daniel Byrne and Adam Evans also scoring.

Dungannon’s misery was compounded as Terry Devlin was sent off late on.

Glenavon took on Carrick Rangers for the third time in 14 days with Daniel Kelly nodding the visitors in front.

Chris Rodgers was sent off on 30 minutes before Colin Coates levelled it up at the start of the second half.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Aaron Hogg earned his side a draw as he saved Michael O’Connor’s penalty.

READ MORE:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Irish and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Thank you,

Alistair Bushe

Editor