Larne, Linfield, Cliftonville, Crusaders, Glentoran and Carrick Rangers all picked up three points from an action packed Tuesday night in the Sports Direct Premiership.

Defending champions Larne moved to the top of the table following a 3-0 defeat of Ballymena United.

Although scoreless at the break, Tiernan Lynch’s edged into the lead early in the second half after Lee Bonis nodded home an Andy Ryan cross.

Ryan then doubled Larne’s advantage on 82 minutes before, deep into stoppage time, Leroy Millar completed the scoring.

Cliftonville racked up a similar victory over Newry City at The Showgrounds and, for the second game in a row, inflicted all the damage on their opponents in the first half.

Luke Turner opened the scoring after just seven minutes after pouncing on the loose ball from Joe Gormley's half volley from inside the area.

Ben Wilson then found the target on 28 minutes after Rory Hale and Ronan Doherty combined to create the opening, with Hale getting on the scoresheet himself soon after making no mistake from Doherty's cut back.

Chris Shields scored twice in the second half as Linfield defeated Glenavon 4-2 at Windsor Park.

The sides traded goals around the quarter-of-an-hour mark with Chris McKee’s opener cancelled out almost immediately by Stephen Teggart.

Joel Cooper edged the Blues in front on 52 minutes before Shields bagged his double just after the hour. The first, on 61 minutes, came on the follow up after he saw an initial penalty saved by Rory Brown, but he made no mistake four minutes after that with the second spot-kick of the evening.

Calum Birney did pull one back for Glenavon, but it was too late to change the outcome of the game.

Two goals just after the break were enough for Crusaders to get the better of Dungannon Swifts at Seaview.

Paul Heatley broke the deadlock when he latched onto the rebound of a Philip Lowry effort to fire past Declan Dunne at the back post while, around ten minutes, Adam Lecky bundled the ball home from close range after a cross into the box wasn't cleared.

A Daire O’Connor strike midway through the first half was enough for Glentoran to collect the points from their visit to face Loughgall.

He tapped home at the back post after Niall McGinn pounced on a poor clearance to send the ball over from the left … although the Glens could have added to their tally late in the game only to be denied twice by the woodwork.

Carrick Rangers bounced back from a disappointing weekend result to defeat Coleraine at the Loughview Leisure Arena.

Stuart King’s charges raced into a two-goal lead with just over a quarter-of-an-hour on the clock.

Kyle Cherry opened the scoring on 14 minutes when, from Kurtis Forsythe's cross, he rose highest to send a looping header over keeper Gareth Deane.

Then, four minutes after that, David Cushley made it 2-0 with a successfully converted spot-kick awarded after Jamie Glackin had upended Cherry just inside the area.