STORY OF THE MATCH: Carrick Rangers 1 Glenavon 0 – Danny Gibson grabs the glory
Danny Gibson’s close-range first-half finish left Carrick Rangers celebrating success over Glenavon at Taylors Avenue.
F-T: Carrick Rangers 1 Glenavon 0
94: And, once again, Gibson shows strength and slick footwork under pressure to retain possession as Carrick creep towards full-time
90: Gibson finding the strength on an energy-sapping afternoon in the sunshine to drive his team forward down the left wing towards the Glenavon penalty area and protect the advantage he secured before the break
85: Steele's corner-kick delivery finds Gibson but his header under pressure clears the crossbar
83: Promising Carrick attack but Gibson's delicate pass towards Maciulaitis is just beyond the substitute striker inside the box
77: SUBS (Carrick) - Maciulaitis on for Lecky
75: Superb control on the run by McGovern to collect and cut in from the left off a McKeown ball from deep and his low pass across the box is picked up by O’Connor but Callacher is on hand to hack off the line
74: McKeown slips in possession and Lecky reacts quickly to put the Glenavon captain under pressure but the defender recovers well to escape from danger
69: SUBS (Glenavon) – O’Connor and Wilson on for McDaid and Lowe
68: Carrick create an opening for Steele but, from a wide angle, his shot travels across the face of goal
61: SUBS (Glenavon) - McGovern and Smith on for Mallon and Malone
60: YELLOW (Carrick) - McCullough
54: Free-kick in a strong position ends with Mallon’s curling shot and appeals for handball inside the Carrick box
53: SUB (Glenavon) – Quinn for McClelland
52: YELLOW (Carrick) - Crowe
H-T: Carrick Rangers 1 Glenavon 0
40: Comfortable as Carney collects Steele’s ambitious free-kick attempt
37: GOAL - Carrick Rangers 1 (Gibson) Glenavon 0
Steele slips in Gibson on the left and McKeown steps across to block but Carrick maintain momentum thanks to Heatley’s sliding challenge to win back possession on the right. Heatley is then alert to attack the box and deliver a decisive low cross for Gibson to convert
32: YELLOW (Carrick) - O'Brien
31: McDaid shows strength to engineer a wonderful opening in a prime position but, with time on his side and only Gartside to beat, drags the shot wide of the post
30: Another Carney save, this time to deny Heatley's looping header
18: YELLOW (Carrick) - Lecky
15: Fine save by Carney to push out Gibson's back-post header off an angled ball from deep on the right by Scott
14: Heatley's pass down the left-hand side sends Gibson in a race into space but McKeown steps across to clear up the threat
CARRICK RANGERS: Nathan Gartside, Jimmy Callacher, Danny Gibson, Adam Lecky, Luke McCullough, Aidan Steele, Joe Crowe, Paul Heatley, Matthew Snoddy, Jack Scott, Luke O’Brien.
Subs: Scott Pengelly, Cian O’Malley, Ryan Waide, Nedas Maciulaitis, Benjamin Buchanan-Rolleston, Joshua Andrews, Kyle Cherry.
GLENAVON: Jacob Carney, Jordan McMullan, Patrick Burns, Barney McKeown, Jack Malone, David McDaid, Stephen Mallon, Kyle McClelland, Kris Lowe, Francely Lomboto, Sean Carlin.
Subs: Mark Byrne, Harry Murphy, Ben Wilson, Michael O’Connor, Carey Smith, Paul McGovern, Niall Quinn.
Referee: Evan Boyce.