BALLYMENA United boss Jim Ervin has told his players to “embrace the challenge” of being top of the table.
United leapfrogged Linfield - beaten 3-1 by Glentoran at Windsor Park on Friday night - at the summit with a 4-1 win over Loughgall at the Showgrounds, their seventh successive league victory.
The home side took the lead with a penalty on 25 minutes, awarded after a challenge by Luke Cartwright on Calvin McCurry, Ben Kennedy stepping up to score. Kym Nelson made it 2-0 before Jay Boyd replied for the visitors. Goals by Andy Scott and Joe Moore wrapped up the three points to edge United a point clear of the Blues, having played a game more.
Ballymena only retained their top flight status via a play-off at the end of last season, and bossman Ervin beamed: “It’s some contrast to last year and even to the start of this season.
“It’s not a nice feeling when you are losing matches. Now we just want to get as many wins as quickly as possible.
“The turning point for us this season was a 1-0 defeat at Dungannon – not so much the result as the performance.
“But since then the boys have clicked. We’ve brought in a lot of new players and it takes time for a team to gel. We’ve brought in experienced players and every single one of them has been outstanding.
“Winning becomes a habit just as losing becomes a habit.
“We are top on merit – we deserve to be there. Now we need to embrace the challenge that brings.”
Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton was an angry man after his side were hit by a shock 2-0 defeat at Carrick Rangers, who had started the day bottom of the table and parted company with manager Stuart King in midweek after exiting the BetMcLean Cup at home to third tier Queen’s University.
Goals by Danny Gibson and Seanan Clucas did the trick for the caretaker management duo of Mark Surgenor and Curtis Allen.
Reds chief Magilton said: “Carrick Rangers deserved to win – we were poor in all aspects of our game.
“The two goals are extremely disappointing but there are very few excuses, we were just second best all over the park.
“We need to apologise to our fans – they come and watch and want be entertained and Cliftonville fans stick with their players if they show guts and determination to try and get a result, but their goalkeeper didn’t really have to make many saves.
“Our quality into the box wasn’t brilliant, our movement wasn’t brilliant and our desire to get on the end of things wasn’t brilliant, so if you have those ingredients, you’re going to come away with nothing and we were so poor.”
Carrick joint caretaker Allen said: “It’s been a strange few days for the two of us. It has consumed us both.
“The performance was fantastic – there’s a long way to go to get back to where we want to be but it’s a big step in the right direction.
“We made changes in routine and in formation and tactics. We’re so proud of the players.”
He added: “I’m sure there’s plenty of people who would be interested in the job.”
A last-minute David McDaid goal gave Glenavon a 2-1 victory over Portadown in the big Mid Ulster derby at Moureview Park.
Ahu Obhakhan had put the Ports in front before Jack Malone levelled on 58 minutes.
Glenavon boss Stephen McDonnell was delighted with his side’s first home win of the season.
“Better late than never and against our big rivals,” said McDonnell.
“We were the far better side in the first half - their goal was a against the run of play and we shifted a few players at half-time.
“It was a fully deserved victory with two good finishes and we go home happy.
“We’re making progress - we’ve gone under the radar and we’re now a point off the top six.”
Portadown manager Niall Currie said: “It’s a tough one to take - you’ve got to come away with something, at least a point, and I think we deserved a point.
“I’m hugely disappointed with their goals. They were very, very preventable.
“We’ve a lot to learn but football’s a very up and down game and we’ll have our highs this season.
“I think Glenavon’s game management was better than ours.
“They were very clever and showed a lot of experience, the slightest touches [they were] going down and buying plenty of free-kicks.
“Fair play to them, we’ve got to maybe learn that side of the game as well. Sometimes we’re a bit naive in situations.”
Crusaders beat Coleraine 2-1 at Seaview.
Champions Larne host Dungannon Swifts on Sunday (2pm) after their 3-0 defeat against Molde in Norway on Thursday night in their Europa Conference League group stage opener.
Meanwhile, Linfield say they “will investigate further” an incident at the end of Friday’s Big Two clash at Windsor Park when “an individual was removed from the ground” after Glentoran’s Fuad Sule alleged that he was racially abused by a spectator.