Linfield hammered 4-0 as they celebrate title

Linfield were thrashed 4-0 by Glenavon at Windsor Park as they were officially presented with the Gibson cup.

The Blues made sure of their title win a week ago, and David Healy fielded a much-changed side lacking plenty of regular faces with the game effectively a dead rubber.

However, it was a huge 3 points for the visitors, who are now up into third place above Crusaders.

The home side had a couple of early chances, so it was slightly against the run of play that Glenavon took a 9th minute lead.

It was former Blue man Robert Garrett who opened the scoring when he smashed the ball beyond Gareth Deane from 25 yards out. The midfielder only left Windsor Park in January, and elected not to celebrate his stunning goal.

Marek Cervenka should have pulled the Champions level, but he thumped a volley miles over the bar when found unmarked by a Kirk Millar corner in the 21st minute.

Shortly before the break, Gary Hamilton's side moved even further ahead.

With 39 on the clock, they were in complete control after Andrew Mitchell held up the ball before laying it into the path of Conor McCloskey to arrow a left-footed strike into the top corner from the edge of the box.

2 minutes later, Josh Daniel's dipping shot rattled the crossbar from outside the box, with Linfield very much looking like a side with nothing to play for.

By the hour, they deservedly scored their third when Eoin Wearen ghosted past Ryan McGivern inside the box before neatly planting the ball into the far corner beyond the reach of Deane.

Linfield made a few changes, but they made no difference, and Glenavon soon added their 4th.

The ball pinged around the box following a 76th minute corner, and Rhys Marshall was free at the back stick to stab his side into a 4-0 lead - but the Blues seemed to care little as they got their hands on the Gibson Cup at last.