LURGAN BLUES WIN BATTLE OF THE GLENS
Goals from Conor McCloskey and Matthew Fitzpatrick helped Glenavon defeat Glentoran at the BetMcLean Oval.
The win is the second on the bounce for Gary Hamilton's side, and keeps them very much in contention for a potential end of season European play-off place.
McCloskey, an early substitute for Michael O'Connor, opened the scoring midway through the first half with a low, hard finish into the bottom left corner after being teed up by Jack Malone on the break.
Malone then might have doubled Glenavon's lead just after the half-hour mark after dispossessing Joe Crowe and sending a curling just over.
However, Glenavon had to wait until the 73rd minute to double their advantage when Fitzpatrick was released by Jamie Doran to beat the offside trap and turn the ball home with a composed near post finish.
Glentoran might have pulled one back in the closing moments through Junior Uzokwe but his headed effort went against the upright while Aidan Wilson failed to convert from the rebound.
Glentoran: McCarey, McCullough, Wilson, Burns, Marshall, J. Donnelly, Singleton, Devlin, Crowe, McMenamin, Wightman subs Webber, Kane, R. Donnelly, Murphy, Purkis, McGinn, Uzokwe
Glenavon: Brown, Snoddy, O’Connor, Fitzpatrick, Baird, Wallace, Doran, Rogers, Garrett, Malone, Ward subs Matthews, Kerr, Doyle, Lynch, McCloskey, Prendergast, Bradley
Substitution 
Substitution 
