Linfield 2-0 Carrick Rangers

Linfield scored either side of half-time as they were forced to work hard to beat a resilient Carrick Rangers 2-0 at Windsor Park.

The first half hour of action was largely limited to tame efforts from distance from both sides, although Carrick were the happier in the early exchanges.

They came close to scoring when Kyle Cherry headed over in the 40th minute, but it proved to be a costly miss.

Just 2 minutes later, Andy Waterworth rounded off a flowing Linfield move to score the opener and break the deadlock.

Joel Cooper started the move, surging through midfield before releasing Niall Quinn down the left with a pinpoint pass, and he then squared it for the striker to tap home his 9th of the season.

Linfield responded well after the break and Waterworth soon volleyed into the net, only for it to be ruled out for offside, before Kirk Millar cracked the crossbar with a 56th strike from distance as the pressure began to tell.

Millar turned provider a minute later to brilliantly set up the second goal, clipping the ball on the outside of his right foot to find Mark Stafford unmarked at the back post to head Linfield into a 2-0 lead.

Some slack kicking by Blues keeper Rohan Ferguson almost allowed Carrick back into the game immediately. He gave the ball straight to striker Guillaume Keke who slipped a couple of defenders before rounding the keeper and shooting towards an empty net, only for Bastien Hery to dive in and deflect the ball around the post.

It effectively killed off the game, and Carrick failed to threaten as Linfield held on for 3 points.