Joe Gormley bagged another hat-trick as Cliftonville swept to a four-goal defeat of Loughgall on a wintery Saturday afternoon that also produced victories for Dungannon Swifts and Portadown.

And, on Friday night, Glentoran kicked the weekend off with a win over Linfield in the derby at the BetMcLean Oval.

Cliftonville closed the gap at the top to five points with a Gormley inspired victory over the Villagers at Solitude.

Gormley opened the scoring just after the half-hour mark from the spot awarded after Tiernan Kelly had brought down Micheal Glynn in the area.

He doubled up on 56 minutes with a superb left-foot chip over Nathan Gartside and claimed his 17th match ball ten minutes after that after unleashing an unstoppable drive past Gartside on the edge of the area.

Rory Hale then completed the scoring a short time later with a tap in after debutant Coran Madden had cut the ball back.

Portadown came out on top of the Mid Ulster derby with a narrow victory over Glenavon at Shamrock Park.

Ahu Obhakhan hit what proved to be the only goal of the game after just six minutes when he connected with Eamon Fyfe’s free-kick and took a touch before firing into the bottom left corner.

And one goal was all Dungannon Swifts needed to get the better of Carrick Rangers at Taylors Avenue.

The winner came with around a quarter-of-an-hour remaining through James Knowles who stepped up to a free-kick just outside the area and curled it low towards the bottom corner, bouncing just in front of keeper Ross Glendinning and bundled into the net.

On Friday evening Marcus Kane knocked home the only goal as Glentoran defeated leaders Linfield at the BetMcLean Oval.

The home skipper struck right on the stroke of half-time from close range after Daniel Amos’ corner was only partially cleared.

The Ballymena United-Larne clash was postponed following a morning pitch inspection.

The action continues on Sunday lunchtime as Coleraine welcome Crusaders to The Showgrounds, kick-off 12:30pm.