'POINT OFF THE BOTTOM FOLLOWING LATE SMASH AND GRAB

Warrenpoint Town staged a stoppage time smash and grab to come from behind and defeat Carrick Rangers at the Loughshore Hotel Arena.

And, crucially, those late goals coupled with Institute losing to Dungannon Swifts lifted Barry Gray's side off the foot of the table for the first time this season.

Both sides had goals disallowed during the opening exchanges. Carrick found the net after a succession of corners but had their 'goal' ruled out for a foul on keeper Mark Byrne while 'Point's Brandon Doyle was adjudged to have strayed offside when he turned a close range header over the line at the other end.

Warrenpoint then created openings through Alan O'Sullivan and Stuart Hutchinson but it fell to Carrick to break the deadlock when, on 20 minutes, Caloan Loughran confidently scored from the spot after Eamon Scannell had fouled Stewart Nixon as he dispossessed him.

Carrick thought they had doubled their lead soon after but Reece Neale's effort was impressively kept out by Byrne's fingertip save to turn the ball around the post.

'Point came close to levelling around the half-hour mark through Ryan Swan with a flick from Hutchinson's cross but Carrick keeper Harry Doherty did well to deny the chance.

The visitors had another noteworthy chance midway through the second half when O'Sullivan's effort was pushed out by Doherty with Swan only able to blast the rebound well over.

And that was how it stayed until those frantic closing moments!

O'Sullivan knocked home the equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time from the spot after Danny Wallace had been upended on the left side of the area.

Then, almost immediately, recent arrival Swan clinched the win with a header in the dying seconds to secure what only moments earlier had looked an unlikely outcome to the game.

Carrick Rangers: Doherty, Carson, Neale, Surgenor, Loughran, Faulkner, D. Kelly, Nixon, Magill, Murray, Anderson subs Nicholl (not used), Rodgers (not used), Smith (not used), Cherry (replaced D. Kelly 66), Hassin (replaced Anderson 79), Reynolds (replaced Nixon 66), E. Kelly (not used)

Warrenpoint Town: Byrne, Bennett, Reilly, McVeigh, O'Sullivan, Doyle, Scannell, Hutchinson, Wallace, Dillon, Swan subs Smith (not used), Young (not used), Lynch (not used), Watters (not used), Cowan (not used), Mullen (not used), Carroll (replaced Hutchinson 58)