CARRICK BOUNCE BACK
Carrick Rangers recovered from a challenging week to carve out a well deserved point from Linfield at Windsor Park.
After shipping nine goals on Tuesday night, the visitors came out in determined fashion and duly moved in front on 19 minutes when David Cushley latched onto a loose ball in midfield before moving forward and firing low into the bottom left corner.
Linfield levelled midway through the first half. Cushley was penalised for a foul on Kyle McClean inside the box with Chris Shields stepping up to convert the subsequent spot-kick.
Then, just after the half-hour mark, Matthew Clarke edged the Blues in front after running onto a McClean header to slot the ball beyond keeper Ross Glendinning.
But, barely a couple of minutes after that, Daniel Purkis equalised for Carrick when he crept in at the near post to direct home a Ben Tilney left-sided cross.
That was how it stayed until a quarter-of-an-hour to go when Ben Hall met a Kirk Millar free-kick to nod the finish past Glendinning.
However Carrick and Purkis hit back once again a few minutes later with a close range header from Nedas Maciulaitis' cross to earn a share of the spoils.
Linfield: Johns, Finlayson, Shields, Scott, Millar, McClean, Cooper, Hall, Clarke, McKee, Robertson subs Walsh, Newberry, McBrien, Mulgrew, Annett, McKay, Archer
Carrick Rangers: Ross Glendinning, Forsythe, Surgenor, Cushley, Allen, Maciulaitis, Andrews, Crowe, Reece Glendinning, Purkis, Tilney subs McCauley, Stewart, Watson, McGuckin, Buchanan-Rolleston, Montgomery, O'Prey
Substitution 
Substitution 
