Glentoran beat Institute to secure playoff place

Glentoran secured a 7th place finish and a playoff place by beating Institute 2-0 in the final game of the Danske Bank Premiership.

In awful weather conditions at the Oval, Darren Murray's 2nd half penalty broke the deadlock.

The Glens only needed a point to make sure of 7th place, and Marcus Kane's late header made the scoreline slightly more flattering after what had been a lacklustre game.

In a first half of few chances, it took until the 13th minute for anything of note to happen; Nathan Kerr's cross found the head of Robbie McDaid, but the club's player of the year steered his effort well wide of the post.

10 minutes later, the conditions had improved, and Darren Murray scooped a left-footed shot over the bar after some neat link-up play down the right.

With 34 on the clock, the striker went even closer, swiveling inside the box before hooking a volley narrowly wide.

3 minutes later, right-back Kerr rattled the post with a fierce drive from 30 yards as Glentoran began to increase the pressure before the break, with John Heron's shot blocked inside the box shortly after.

However, the rain resumed and the overall quality of the game dropped again. It wasn't until the hour there was another chance, with Heron picking up a loose ball after a Dean Curry error - but he shot right at the keeper.

In the 68th, Institute almost took the lead entirely against the run of play when Gareth Brown's shot was deflected onto the roof of the net.

However, the Glens were given the ideal chance to open the scoring when Curtis Allen was bundled over in the box. It allowed Darren Murray to step up and place his 75th minute penalty into the bottom corner.

Marcus Kane headed the Glens' second in added time from Chris Gallagher's corner to add some gloss to the scoreline.