6 goals and 2 red cards as Big Two thriller ends in draw
Last updated 25th Nov 2020
Linfield scored a last-second equaliser against 9-man Glentoran as a manic Big Two derby ended 3-3 at Windsor Park.
The early exchanges were hardly indicative of what was to come, and it wasn't until the 33rd minute that the deadlock was broken after a piece of magic from Linfield's Jordan Stewart.
The winger cut in from the left, casually skipping past a flailing Seanan Clucas as he entered the box before hammering a shot on goal from a narrow angle. It was saved by keeper Dayle Coleing, deflected straight upwards, but he completely lost track of the ball in the air as it dropped onto his back before bobbling into the net.
Glentoran ended the first 45 minutes without testing the keeper, but they quickly made amends after the break.
Robbie McDaid fired a speculative effort from distance in the 48th minute which Blues keeper Chris Johns failed to gather cleanly. The ball bounced off his chest and Paul O'Neill was on hand to poke it through the keeper's legs and grab the equaliser.
The third goal of the night came in the same circumstances as the first two, on the back of a major goalkeeper error. This time, in the 65th minute, it was Glentoran's Coleing at fault again.
He got into a mix-up with his defender Clucas and lunged into a desperate tackle when the ball broke to Linfield's Stephen Fallon. The keeper was booked for his lunge, and although he got a hand to Shayne Lavery's penalty, he couldn't save it.
It took barely 2 minutes for Glentoran to reply and pull level through Jay Donnelly. A long ball over the top of the defence caught Linfield on the back foot, and the forward hammered a low finish past Johns to make it 2-2.
After 75 minutes, the advantage swung back Linfield's way when Coleing's night somehow got even worse. The Glens defence made a mess of a ball over the top, and Lavery chased it down, getting a touch ahead of the keeper who fouled him outside the box to earn a straight red card.
Glentoran appeared to have won it in the 86th minute when McDaid was sent through clear on goal, and he calmly slotted it into the bottom corner beyond the reach of Johns.
Glentoran's Clucas was sent off for a poor challenge in added time, and the stage was set for Jimmy Callacher to thump home the equalising header with the last action of the game.