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Ballymena United v Linfield BBC Sport This video can not be played Ballymena United v Linfield BBC Sport Ballymena United 1-0 Linfield - Watch on BBC i Player Matthew Clarke opens scoring against former side Larne 3-0 Crusaders Dan Bent opens scoring for hosts Finlay Thorndike sent off for Crusaders before half time Sean Graham and Matty Lusty score quickfire goals Updates and goal clips on BBC Sport app & website Stephen Alexander and Mark Strange Larne 1-0 Crusaders Larne lead at the break and have had the better of the game so far. With the man advantage, they will look to push on after the interval. Ballymena United 1-0 Linfield There will be a minimum of two additional minutes at Ballymena. Larne 1-0 Crusaders Into three minutes of added time on the banks of the Inver River. Ballymena United 1-0 Linfield Matthew Clarke unexpectedly arrives in the centre forward position to meet a Calvin Mc Curry cross with his head. He's offside on this occasion but the defender has clearly got the taste for goal tonight. Larne 1-0 Crusaders Finlay Thorndike has barely been on the pitch 15 minutes and he is away back to the changing room! He has a coming-together with Mark Randall that sees him go down holding his face. Declan Hassan gives nothing, but is clearly less than enamoured with what the former Glentoran man said as he got to his feet - and brandishes a red card that stuns everyone inside Inver Park. Larne 1-0 Crusaders Brilliant footwork from Matty Lusty in tight quarters gets him into space on the edge of the box. He lays it off for Mark Randall, who looks set to stride on to it for a first-time shot, but Ross Clarke reads it well and slides it away. Ballymena United 1-0 Linfield Who else was it going to be? Matthew Clarke haunts his former club to open the scoring in Ballymena. This video can not be played Watch: Matthew Clarke scores for Ballymena United Ballymena United 1-0 Linfield Happily, Chris Johns is fit to continue and punches away Ben Kennedy's corner. Ballymena United 1-0 Linfield David Jeffrey Former Linfield & Ballymena manager on BBC i Player It was totally accidental, it was just a coming together between the players. Ballymena United 1-0 Linfield Success Edogun latches onto Stephen O'Donnell's long ball forward. He takes an awkward touch which allows Chris Johns to block at the expense of a corner but the Linfield goalkeeper has picked up an injury. Larne 1-0 Crusaders The game has hit a bit of a lull just after the half hour mark with neither side troubling the keeper. Both sets of fans are still making plenty of noise though. Larne 1-0 Crusaders Evan Easton slips at the worst possible time, gifting Dan Bent the chance to give Larne the lead. This video can not be played Watch: Dan Bent makes it 1-0 to Larne at Inver Park Ballymena United 1-0 Linfield Ben Hall comes marauding out of defence for Linfield before slipping the ball to Dane Mc Cullough on the left. His cross finds the head of Kyle Mc Clean but his downward header lacks the pace and direction to trouble Sean O'Neill. Ballymena United 1-0 Linfield Another chance for Ballymena as Ben Kennedy's cross is flicked by Calvin Mc Curry into his own path but the striker's volley is straight at Chris Johns. Larne 1-0 Crusaders Jonathan Tuffey punches away the initial corner kick delivery from Sean Graham but he has to be alert as Mark Randall stings a volley straight back in. Ballymena United 1-0 Linfield David Jeffrey Former Linfield & Ballymena manager on BBC i Player It's a very soft goal. Chris Shields gave the ball away unnecessarily and that wand of a left foot from Ben Kennedy picked out Matthew Clarke, and it was a fabulous header. Linfield have dominated possession but Ballymena fully deserve to be ahead. Larne 1-0 Crusaders Robbie Weir hasn't looked happy since picking up a knock a few minutes ago and he is replaced by Finlay Thorndike Matthew Clarke (21 mins) You couldn't write the script for this one! Ben Kennedy crosses to the back post where Matthew Clarke - for so many years a favourite of the Linfield faithful after more than 400 appearances - rises to head home. Goalkeeper Chris Johns gets a hand on it but can only push it high into the roof of the net. Larne 1-0 Crusaders Matt Ridley won the game on Saturday with a header and he meets Mark Randall's corner delivery here but Jonathan Tuffey is equal to it. Ballymena United 0-0 Linfield The free kick comes to nothing as Kyle Mc Clean drags his effort wide of the target. Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.