Irish Premiership: Top three Linfield, Larne and Cliftonville secure Boxing Day derby wins

The top three in the Irish Premiership, Linfield, Larne and Cliftonville, all secured derby wins on Boxing Day to consolidate their league positions.

Linfield beat Glentoran 2-0 at Windsor Park, Larne ran out 2-1 victors at Carrick Rangers and Cliftonville edged out Crusaders 2-1 at Solitude.

The Blues lead Larne by one point, with the Reds three further points behind.

Ballymena United defeated Coleraine 3-1, Glenavon won 4-0 at Newry City and Loughgall saw off Dungannon Swifts 2-1.

Noah Stewart was on target twice as the Sky Blues belied their lowly league position to come from a goal behind to beat Coleraine, who had Conor McKendry sent-off late on.

Benji Magee's late strike proved enough for Loughgall to seal their success, while Newry remain rooted to the foot of the table as Glenavon returned to winning ways. Newry manager Gary Boyle resigned after the game.

A goal in either half from Ben Hall and Matthew Fitzpatrick respectively gave David Healy's side Boxing Day bragging rights over their Big Two rivals.

Linfield had the chance to break the deadlock from the penalty spot midway through the first half, as Glentoran goalkeeper Aaron McCarey failed to gather Kirk Millar's corner, fouling Rhys Annett who had nipped in to steal the ball.

Annett was the one who then stepped up to take the penalty, with McCarey making amends by saving well to his right.

Eight minutes later and the Blues had their goal. Kirk Millar's free-kick from the right-hand side was met on the head by Hall, who directed his effort beyond a helpless McCarey and into the bottom corner.

Linfield secured the three points by doubling their lead 15 minutes into the second half, with summer signing Fitzpatrick getting on the end of Kyle McClean's through ball, cutting back onto his favoured right foot, before firing low and hard into the back of the net from the edge of the box.

After an abrasive opening spell at Taylor's Avenue, it was the visitors who went in front on 27 minutes. Aaron Donnelly crossed from the left and Leroy Millar took a touch to spin an opponent before firing a right-footed shot past Ross Glendinning.

In a game in which clear-cut chances were few and far between, Carrick's best effort came when David Cushley threaded a through ball which put Danny Purkis in behind the Larne defence but his left-footed shot clipped the top of the crossbar on its way over.

The visitors grabbed a second on 76 minutes when Millar's low cross from the left was poked home at full stretch by Andy Ryan.

But within two minutes Carrick had halved the deficit when Curtis Allen ran onto a flick-on from a free kick and went around Rohan Ferguson to slot into an unguarded net.

Cliftonville extended their unbeaten run to eight games after an entertaining victory against Crusaders at Solitude.

Rory Hale opened the scoring in the 14th minute after the midfielder got on the end of Ben Wilson's in-swinging cross to net his fourth goal in his last four games against his former club.

Crusaders were back on level terms three minutes after the interval when Lloyd Anderson took full advantage of David Odumosu's fumble to slot home following Ross Clarke's inviting freekick.

A tense game was decided in the 75th minute when Ben Wilson was on hand to rifle home his 17th of the season after Rory Hale's free-kick deflected off Jordan Owens, and the forward made no mistake from close range.

The Crues were unfortunate not to take the lead, but Owens's header from close range midway through the second half was hooked off the line by Chris Gallagher after cannoning off the inside of the post.

Ballymena United secured just a fourth league win of the season and their first victory in 10 outings as they got the better of Coleraine at Warden Street for the second time this season.

Trailing 1-0 at the break to Dean Jarvis's 33rd minute header, two goals from 'supersub' Noah Stewart and one from Johnny McMurray sealed a famous derby day win.

Defender Dean Jarvis opened the scoring for the visitors just the half hour with his second goal of the season.

Conor McKendry's inswinging corner caused panic in the home defence and Jarvis nipped in to head home at the near post.

That was how it stayed until two minutes into the second half when Johnny McMurray levelled for the home side.

Steven McCullough delivered an inviting free-kick into the heart of the Coleraine penalty area and McMurray did the rest, powering home a header from close range.

And the comeback was complete in the 74th minute when half-time sub Noah Stewart escaped the attentions of his marker to blast home past Gareth Deane from a narrow angle.

He still had time to score his second and Ballymena's third with virtually the last kick of the game.

And the day went from bad to worse when Coleraine winger McKendry was shown a straight red card by referee Ian McNabb in the closing minutes.

Loughgall ended their winless league run with a smash and grab victory over Dungannon Swifts.

The hosts took the lead after less than 15 minutes thanks to Magee's 12th league goal of the season. The league's second highest scorer beat the offside trap to slot past Declan Dunne.

It was level before the break, however, thanks to Kealan Dillon's excellent finish from the edge of the box.

Dungannon goalkeeper Declan Dunne was largely a bystander in the second period but was called into action in a big way when Pablo Andrade was brought down in the box. He produced a fantastic save from Robbie Norton's penalty.

However, deep into stoppage time, Magee popped up at the back post to nod home a winner.

The visitors opened the scoring on the fifth minute when Peter Campbell cleverly controlled Danny Wallace's effort from the edge of the area before passing back to Wallace whose strike flew past the diving Steven Maguire.

Glenavon extended their lead on 24 minutes when Campbell latched onto a long ball, travelled into the box and played the ball across to unmarked substitute Stephen Teggart who fired into the top right-hand corner.

Things went from bad to worse for the home side just four minutes later as Wallace's pass from left channel found Teggart whose neat footwork tricked Darren King. The substitute then passed to Niall Quinn, whose first-time finish gave the visitors more comfortable lead.

Substitute Aaron Prendergast made it 4-0 on the 78th minute when he connected with Isaac Baird's looping delivery and held off multiple Newry defenders before steering home through the legs of Maguire.