Refereeing decisions played a central part in Thursday’s matches as Shane Andrews’ decision not to send off Linfield goalkeeper David Walsh for bringing down Jordan Jenkins outside his area in the second half was met with incredulity by Glentoran manager Declan Devine and surprise by most neutral observers.
The Glens boss described it as “the turning point” of a game which ended 0-0 at the Oval.
The Blues had stopper Chris Johns in reserve on the bench but the prospect of playing the final half hour of the game with only 10 men in the cauldron of a Boxing Day showdown could have been a challenging one for the visitors.
Subsequently Linfield defender Sam Roscoe was dismissed for a second yellow 10 minutes later and home captain Marcus Kane also saw red for two bookable offences.
Devine’s side had the better of the game but were unable to take the chances which would have earned them a fourth consecutive win over their derby rivals this season, with Jenkins particularly culpable in front of goal.
Linfield ground out a precious point as back-to-back champions Larne had three ‘goals’ disallowed when they were held to a 0-0 draw by Carrick Rangers, thereby failing to make up ground on the clubs above them.
Larne head coach Gary Haveron expressed disappointment post-match that Cian Bolger’s header, Matt Lusty’s effort and Andy Ryan’s shot were all chalked off by referee Ian McNabb.
Larne sit ninth in the table, 22 points behind leaders Linfield, but with six games in hand over Healy’s charges ahead of the big meeting between the sides at Windsor Park on Monday.
A win for the pacesetters in that encounter would put them in a massively strong position to regain the Gibson Cup.
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