Irish League Football

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Danny Gibson's hat-trick saw Carrick Rangers take a giant step towards Irish Premiership safety as Stephen Baxter's side beat Annagh United 5-2 in the first leg of the promotion/relegation play-off.

After the game BBC Sport NI caught up with both managers.

Carrick Rangers manager Stephen Baxter on Gibson's hat-trick: "He was absolutely lethal, that's Danny.

"If you put the ball in the right areas for him, he'll run on and score that goal, and tonight he found those spaces and was a handful all night, but that's the type of player Danny is.

"He has been playing well the last number of games. What I know Danny to be is that he has power and aggression, and if he gets a sight of the goal, he'll score."

On the performance of his side: "I'm very pleased. I'm probably disappointed if I'm honest that we didn't add to the five and with the two we conceded, but that's always the case around a manager - we will always pick out faults.

"It's only half-time, you can't get carried away with it. You're up the road with a 3-0 lead and you've to finish the job off on Friday night. That's what this game's all about, you've got to find a way through, and it's far from over."

Annagh United's Ciaran McGurgan on his side's defensive performance: "We are really, really disappointed. What we've done well all season defensively, we have the most clean sheets in the league, we didn't do this evening.

"I thought tonight we were well off it, it was a car crash at times. That's the most disappointing thing.

"The things we've done well to get results to get us here tonight, we didn't do, and Carrick punished us every time it went forward in the first half."

On the approach to the second leg: "It's only half-time, and yes, unfortunately, we are three goals down, but you get an early goal, and that changes things and gives you belief and momentum.

"They have to believe that they can go out on Friday night and give a good of themselves and get themselves back in it."

Danny Gibson hit a hat-trick as Carrick Rangers beat Annagh United 5-2 in the first leg of the Irish Premiership promotion/relegation play-off.

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Lauren McCann
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Pacemaker Press

Annagh United boss Ciaran McGurgan said it would be "unbelievable" to win the promotion/relegation play-off against Carrick Rangers and earn a place in the Irish Premiership.

Saturday's 2-0 win against Ards secured second spot for Annagh in the Championship and a place in the play-offs after a superb run of eight straight league wins.

Having lost out to Portadown and Dungannon Swifts in their two previous play-offs, McGurgan hopes they can get over the line at the third time of asking.

"The run we have been on has been unbelievable and it would be unbelievable if we could reach the Irish Premiership," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Sportsound.

"We're under no illusions it is going to be a tough task, but hopefully we can put on a performance.

"This is our third play-off in fourth years, I'm just hoping it's third time lucky."

Annagh host Carrick at Tandragee Park on Tuesday before travelling to Taylors Avenue for the second leg against the Premiership side.

McGurgan believes that Carrick having home advantage in the second leg will give the Premiership side an edge.

"We've just kept the focus on ourselves, we know what Carrick are about, they're experienced and a big physical team, we have different attributes to that so hopefully we can cause them problems," he continued.

"Unfortunately, these ties seem to favour the Irish Premiership team but all we can do is try get something Tuesday to hold on to going into Friday and see where it takes us."

You can follow live text commentary with in-play clips from both legs of the play-off on the BBC Sport NI website

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Four players from Irish Premiership champions Linfield have been named in the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association Team of the Year.

Matthew Orr, Euan East, Joel Cooper and Matthew Fitzpatrick make up the Blues' quartet after they helped Linfield win the Gibson Cup for a record-extending 57th time before the split.

Eighteen-year-old Orr has impressed in his first year with the senior team and has also been nominated for Young Player of the Year.

He has been a virtual ever-present for David Healy's side in their defence alongside East, who has excelled in a number of different positions.

Cooper, who is up for Irish Premiership Player of the Year, scored 19 league goals in his final season for Linfield before his departure to Coleraine in the summer, whilst Fitzpatrick found the net 12 times.

Glentoran have three players in the team whilst Cliftonville and Dungannon Swifts each have two representatives.

Glens goalkeeper Daniel Gyollai, defender Kodi Lyons-Foster and midfielder Fuad Sule have all been included from Declan Devine's side who finished third and reached the BetMcLean League Cup final.

Swifts left-back Adam Glenny and midfielder Gael Bigirimana, who is also nominated for Player of the Year, feature after helping Rodney McAree's side to a fourth-place league finish and an Irish Cup final.

Reds captain Rory Hale was named in the team alongside Player of the Year nominee Joe Gormley, who finished as the league's t top goal scorer with 20 goals.

The duo were key to Cliftonville winning the BetMcLean Cup in March and they will look to win a cup double when the Reds face the Swifts in the Irish Cup final on 3 May.

NIFWA Team of the Year: Daniel Gyollai (Glentoran), Matthew Orr (Linfield), Kodi-Lyons Foster (Glentoran), Euan East (Linfield), Adam Glenny (Dungannon Swifts), Gael Bigirimana (Dungannon Swifts), Fuad Sule (Glentoran), Rory Hale (Cliftonville), Joel Cooper (Linfield), Joe Gormley (Cliftonville), Matthew Fitzpatrick (Linfield)

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Carrick Rangers boss Stephen Baxter said his side's Irish Premiership promotion/relegation play-off against Annagh United will be a "very tough task".

The first leg of the play-off will take place on Tuesday at Tandragee Park with the second leg at Taylors Avenue on Friday.

Annagh finished second in the Championship after winning their last eight games in a row and Baxter knows they come into the game as the form side.

"Saturday was their eighth win on the trot and that is some going in the Championship," he told BBC Sport NI.

"We've been able to watch all three of the teams challenging at the top of the division over the last couple of months so we're certainly very aware of how they play."

"They're very well coached and they play to their strengths. They have capable players who have played in the Irish Premiership, it is going to be a very tough task for us, but we need to be up to that challenge."

Baxter rested a number of key players as Carrick suffered a 4-0 defeat against Glenavon in their final league game on Saturday in order to have them in prime condition for the play-off.

"We need to have all the players fully fit and ready to play which I think they are, and we need to get our heads down over two legs and try win this game," he added.

"If your best is good enough you will win and get through."

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Former Glenavon boss Gary Hamilton has been appointed as the new manager of Premier Intermediate side Ballymacash Rangers.

Hamilton has been out of management since he was sacked by the Lurgan Blues in September 2023 after almost 12 years in charge of the Irish Premiership club.

The former Northern Ireland international took over as player-manager in December 201, steering them off the bottom of the table and helping them avoid relegation during his first season in charge.

He THEN led the Mid-Ulster club to two Irish Cup successes in 2014 and 2016, four third-place finishes, and the European football that came with that.

Lisburn-based club Ballymacash finished fifth in the third tier this season.

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Larne boss Gary Haveron said that the post-match scenes in their goalless draw with Glentoran were "really unsavoury".

After the full-time whistle, a mass brawl broke out on the pitch at Inver Park, with punches thrown.

Aaron Donnelly and Conor McKendry were sent off for the Inver outfit whilst Christie Pattison and Fuad Sule were dismissed for the Glens.

And Haveron was disappointed that those scenes will overshadow the result which ensured that Larne finished second and secured automatic European qualification.

"ions were running really high, sometimes they boil over and it was really unsavoury," he told BBC Sport NI.

"It is not something you want to see at games. We pride ourselves on being a family club, there are a lot of kids in the stand and that is not how you end the game of football, but when someone comes on and attacks one of your teammates it is only natural you are going to react to it and that Glentoran would react to that."

"It's not something we want to be associated with, and it is disappointing that that is what the talking points will be and not the grit and determination to get over the line against a good Glentoran side that threw the kitchen sink at us but couldn't break us."

Haveron said that having watched the brawl back he hopes that the main perpetrators will be dealt with accordingly.

"You have to say to the boys to step back because it drags on and on but there was an antagonist," he added.

"People will get punished and rightfully so, I hope the antagonist is punished the most."

Glentoran boss Declan Devine said that he would be "more frustrated if my players lay down and took punches" following ugly scenes after his side's goalless draw with Larne.

After the full-time whistle, with the result having secured Larne second place and automatic European qualification, a mass brawl broke out on the pitch at Inver Park, with punches thrown.

Christie Pattison and Fuad Sule were sent off for the Glens whilst Aaron Donnelly and Conor McKendry were dismissed for Larne.

Whilst itting he "didn't see much of it" and condemning that violence was used, Devine defended his players.

"My players stood up for each other on and off the pitch. I'd be more frustrated if my players lay down and took punches," he told BBC Sport NI.

"I'm extremely proud of the players, I want fight and commitment, maybe not to the level after the game, but it takes two to tango.

"There are certain players in our changing room who are frustrated with certain of the Larne team instigating fights."

Devine says he intends to watch the post-match scenes back to get a "clearer picture" of what happened.

"There were a lot of handbags. Tensions were really high and there was a big prize at stake," he added.

"Of course, you shouldn't lift your hands on a football pitch in the 90 minutes and there were a few digs thrown in the 18-yard box in the second half, but no room for violent actions at all during and after the game."

The Glens boss will now have to pick his players up for the European play-offs.

"My only focus now is on the frustration that we didn't win this game. We didn't lose second place here today we lost it last week at Dungannon and before that at Crusaders when we dropped points."

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Larne will be unable to host European matches at Inver Park next season should they qualify for the Uefa Conference League after their home ground failed a Fifa Pro Standard pitch test.

The two-time Irish Premiership champions, who this season lost their crown to Linfield, have nominated the Ballymena Showgrounds as their potential home venue.

Larne have said improvements to the pitch at Inver Park are an "important component" of their application for funding from the Northern Ireland Football Fund.

"As the playing surface at Inver Park comes to the end of its natural lifespan for European competition, we have been unsuccessful in the latest Fifa Pro Standard pitch test," said a club statement.

"An upgrade of the artificial surface at Inver Park is an important component of our recent application to the Northern Ireland Football Fund, alongside a much-needed rebuild of our stadium's main stand."

Larne reached the league phase of the Conference League this season and used Linfield's Windsor Park for home matches against Shamrock Rovers, St Gallen and Gent.

They were, however, able to play qualifying rounds at Inver Park, including a famous victory over Lincoln Red Imps.

Two seasons ago, issues with the playing surface at their home ground in east Antrim saw the Inver Reds play their European games at Cliftonville's Solitude ground.

Larne said there was a "single issue" that prevented them staging games in 2023-24 that was rectified for this season.

With the pitch now in its eighth year, a similar fix "was not a possibility" this time around.

Gary Haveron's side are second in the Irish Premiership going into the final day of the season on Saturday and will qualify for Europe should they avoid defeat at home to Glentoran in a game to be streamed live on the BBC iPlayer and website.

Even if they lose out on second place to the Glens, Larne could still make it into the Conference League qualifying rounds through the Irish Premiership European play-off.

Dungannon Swifts have also had to put forward an alternative venue, listing Solitude rather than Stangmore Park.

Rodney McAree's side would qualify for Europe if they win the Irish Cup final against Cliftonville on 3 May or come through the play-off.

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Larne boss Gary Haveron said his side are "preparing to face the best version of Glentoran" during Saturday's final round of Irish Premiership fixtures.

Haveron's side occupy second place in the table and know a draw against third-place Glentoran at Inver Park will be enough to seal the runners-up spot and automatic European qualification.

Glentoran can still snatch second and avoid the play-offs with a win and Haveron believes his side must treat the game like a cup final.

"That has to be the mentality going into it, it's a winner takes all game, yes we can get a draw, but we never set the team up to draw, and Saturday will not be any different," he told BBC Sport NI.

"We know what we're going to face with the Glens, they're a quality side and we're preparing for the best version of Glentoran to come to Inver Park."

The Larne boss itted it has been a "long, long season" due to the club's participation in the league phase of the Uefa Conference League that left them playing catch-up in the Irish Premiership.

However, he believes clinching the runners-up spot and getting back into Europe without having to go through the play-offs would be the perfect way to round off a historic season.

"Given the season we have had, it would be nice to get it [European qualification] wrapped up on Saturday. It has been incredibly tough at times and there has been a lot of learning," he added.

"The European campaign, I wouldn't have changed for the world, it was unbelievable to be a part of. We want to create more memories and get back into Europe.

"It's very much still in our hands; we have clawed ourselves back to second and that is where we aim to stay."