BLUES COME FROM BEHIND TO DEFEAT 'GERS
Linfield hit back from a goal down to defeat Carrick Rangers at the Loughview Leisure Arena.
Needing a sizeable victory to make the top six, Carrick got off to just the start they wanted when Nedas Maciulaitis headed them in front after just six minutes after his initial effort had been cleared off the line by Kirk Millar.
Linfield responded positively, and might have levelled when Kyle McClean was denied from close range by keeper Ross Glendinning, while Joel Cooper was also thwarted a few minutes after that.
But Carrick could have doubled their lead just after the half-hour mark when Maciulaitis did well to find some space before firing just wide of the left post.
However Linfield did bag their equaliser three minutes from the break when Cooper went one better with a close range header after Jamie Mulgrew had sent the ball over from the left.
The Blues then moved in front on the hour, with Ethan McGee finding the bottom right corner from outside the box after picking the ball up in midfield and going past two defenders before finishing with his left-foot.
David Healy's hit a third with 12 minutes remaining. A good move ended with Kyle McClean getting on the end of a Matthew Clarke cross to score from an acute angle.
Carrick did pull one back on 82 minutes after substitute Curtis Allen - only on the pitch a matter of moments - converted Danny Gibson's cross from close range.
Carrick Rangers: Glendinning, Stewart, Gordon, Cushley, Mitchell, Maciulaitis, MacKinnon, Buchanan-Rolleston, Crowe, Gibson, Teelan subs McCauley, Forsythe, Allen, Cherry, Withers, Arnold, Tilney
Linfield: Johns, Finlayson, Newberry, Millar, McClean, Cooper, Hall, Clarke, Mulgrew, McGee, Fitzpatrick subs Walsh, Shields, Stewart, McBrien, McCullough, Annett, Graham
Substitution 
Substitution 
