Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Belfast Live
Belfast Live
Sport
Steven Crawford

Linfield stunned as Glentoran strike late to edge Larne closer to title

Linfield's slim title hopes suffered a late blow at Windsor Park as Bobby Burns' 91st minute leveller rescued a point for Glentoran.

Sam Roscoe's first half header looked to have given the Blues a vital three points in their pursuit of league leaders Larne.

But the Glens cranked up the pressure in the closing stages and it told as Burns poked home a Ruaidhri Higgins' knockdown to leave David Healy's men nine points behind the Invermen with just three games left to play.

Read more: Jamie Conlan on handling brother's abuse, online trolls and 'a******* opinions'

Healy made one change to the side which drew with Crusaders on Friday with Stephen Fallon making his first start since returning from a long-term injury at the expense of Ethan Devine.

Rodney McAree was unhappy with his side's performance in the 2-0 defeat to Larne last time out and that was reflected in his team selection.

Hrvoje Plum, Harry Murphy, Niall McGinn and Junior come into the starting XI with Marcus Kane, Shay McCartan, Jay Donnelly and Danny Purkis all missing out.

The Blues made an impressive start as a sweeping move out from the back saw Kirk Millar pick out Chris McKee in front of goal, but his clever flick was gathered by Aaron McCarey.

The Glens were posing a threat on the counter though with Niall McGinn trying his luck from distance but it never troubled Chris Johns.

Jamie Mulgrew found himself in the referee's notebook before the half hour for a late challenge on Murphy which woke the crowd up.

The game burst into life seven minutes before the break as the hosts upped the ante.

Fallon surged through the Glentoran defence before forcing McCarey into a flying save.

The Blues came again as Millar had an effort blocked by James Singleton at the far post.

The deadlock was broken from the resulting corner from Matthew Clarke though as Roscoe got across the front of his man to flick home a header despite McCarey getting a hand to the ball.

Linfield were forcing the issue again at the start of the second half with Clarke testing McCarey with a header from a Millar free kick.

But the Glens responded with Conor McMenamin and McGinn posing problems down the flanks.

Johns had to be at his best to safely gather a deflected cross from McMenamin as Junior closed in.

Glentoran were looking threatening on the break and Johns had to be alert to deny Terry Devlin as McMenamin sent him racing clear, but the Blues stopper denied him at the near post.

It was all set up for a tense final ten minutes as Linfield looked intent to hold on to what they had to keep the title race going.

With two minutes to go Clarke produced a vital block to nick the ball away from Aaron Wightman in front of goal.

But there was more drama to come as in the 91st minute Burns reacted first to prod home Donnelly's knock down.

The visitors almost stole it right at the death but Donnelly's header flew wide of the upright.

READ NEXT:

Sign up to our free sports newsletter to get the latest headlines to your inbox.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.