Linfield go into Tuesday’s festive fixtures in the Sports Direct Irish Premiership.
Glentoran will travel to Windsor Park for the St Stephen’s Day derby with Blues a point clear of champions Larne following the weekend fixtures.
Two goals within the opening five minutes of second half in Linfield’s Friday night clash with Coleraine ensured maximum points and crucially, that they remain top of the pile.
Defender Euan East broke the deadlock for the Blues and youngster Rhys Annett added a second, with Andrew Mitchell grabbing a late consolation for the visitors Bannsiders.
Joe Thomson scored the only goal in a 1-0 win for second-placed Larne over Loughgall, to remain just a single point behind David Healy’s side.
Elsewhere, there were wins for Cliftonville, Crusaders, Carrick Rangers; and Glentoran came from a goal down to defeat Dungannon Swifts 2-1 at Stangmore Park.
Newry City will not be feeling so full of joy as they will go into the Christmas period rock-bottom, below Ballymena United on goal-difference only.
Win, lose or draw, there will belittle time to enjoy the Christmas Turkey with all the trimmings as attention quickly turns to Derby Day on St Stephen’s Day.
The glamour tie will undoubtedly be the battle of the Big Two as it is Linfield’s turn to host rivals Glentoran at Windsor Park.
The Blues have listed the match as a sell-out, with not a ticket to be had anywhere in town.
The Glens may not be in the driving seat of the table as we head into the holiday period, but they are in scintillating form of late, winning four of their last five games including Saturday’s win over Rodney McAree’s troops.
The Blues and Greens have already faced-off this month in a quirk of the automated fixture list, and it’s the south Belfast side who will still be smarting from that evening at the Oval four-weeks ago.
A 4-0 victory for Warren Feeney’s men was evidence that east Belfast’s finest could still mix it with the best as they showed an attacking intent and ruthlessness not witnessed thus far this term.
What Feeney would give for a repeat of that scoreline come Tuesday afternoon, but the odds would seem to suggest a much closer affair.
Linfield have shown a less pretty side of football this season but with an efficiency that is all Blue.
Friday night’s win over Coleraine further evidence that when the going gets tough they can grind out wins. It hasn’t been pretty but it’s been mighty effective.
Elsewhere, Carrick hosts Larne in the battle for supremacy in east Antrim. The Harbour men have both eyes firmly fixated on retaining the Gibson Cup and are pushing Linfield hard.
However, Stuart King’s side have a knack of winning when it matters and cannot be discounted in this one. Carrick fans should perhaps look away at the head-to-head statistics going into Tuesday.
The Reds are undefeated in 15 ties against the Castle side, and many may feel Larne’s strike-power may be just too much for King and his team come kick-off time.
Meanwhile, Ballymena will be hoping to snatch all three points against Oran Kearney’s Coleraine in the north Antrim derby.
The last time the two sides met was in October with the Sky Blues running out 3-1 winners, frustratingly for manager Jim Ervin this was the last time his side have been on the winner’s end of things come the final whistle, as they are in the midst of a relegation battle with Newry.
In mid-Ulster, Dungannon will be hoping to create further daylight between his charges and the bottom two with victory over a sinking Loughgall who are desperate for a point, or three to revive their season.
Finally, Newry host Glenavon at the Showgrounds.
The Mournemen will hope they won’t be bottom come New Year’s Day, and to ensure that they must defeat a Lurgan Blues side, who were travelling along quite nicely under Stephen McDonnell but have since hit a rocky patch in December when faced with title-challenging opposition.
Three defeats on the bounce, leaves this onehard to call.
Fixtures
St Stephen’s Day (3pm)
Ballymena v Coleraine
Carrick Rangers v Larne
Cliftonville v Crusaders
Linfield v Glentoran
Loughgall v Dungannon Swifts
Newry City v Glenavon