Irish Premiership: Glenavon defeat Ports as Ballymena, Carrick & Crues win

Mark Surgenor was in temporary charge of Carrick for the first time after the midweek departure of Stuart King and he saw his side break the deadlock in the 24th minute at Taylors Avenue.

Danny Gibson latched onto Sean Clucas’s laser-guided throughball and the former Glentoran man left Michael Newberry in his wake before expertly dispatching past David Odumosu from an improbable angle, notching his second of the campaign.

Paul Heatley, a constant thorn in the visitors’ side, nearly doubled the host’s advantage midway through the first half. The former Crusaders man’s curling effort tested Odumosu before he skipped past Shaun Leppard minutes later, drawing another save from the ex-St Pat’s stopper.

The Reds’ sole moment of promise came four minutes before the interval. Rory Hale’s quick-thinking released Sean Stewart, whose thunderbolt looked goalbound but was heroically blocked by Luke McCullough.

After the interval the Mid-East Antrim outfit maintained their relentless pressure. Gibson, ever-alert, quickly pounced on Michael Glynn’s wayward back pass in the 58th minute, only to be thwarted by Jonny Addis’s last-ditch intervention with just Odumsou to beat.

Carrick’s persistence bore fruit four minutes later when Seanan Clucas opened his Rangers account.

Stewart’s deflected header fell fortuitously, and with exquisite technique, Clucas curled home with the outside of his boot to lift Carrick off the bottom of the table with a much-needed win after eight straight league defeats.