Crusaders 2-0 Cliftonville
Gavin Whyte's brace was enough for Crusaders to claim the points in a Boxing Day derby win over Cliftonville.
The winger scored an early goal, and then grabbed another in injury time as the visitors went in search of an equaliser.
There were no signs of any Christmas hangovers with both sides exploding into life in a bright and busy opening period.
Either North Belfast club could have broken the deadlock, but it was the home side who made the most of it with their first sniff of a chance.
Gavin Whyte continued his prolific run in front of goal as he opened the scoring after 12 minutes, finishing well after some generous Cliftonville defending.
Jay Donnelly may feel he was fouled as he lost the ball cheaply in midfield which allowed Whyte to collect posession and drive down the right toward's Brian Neeson's box. The winger skipped past Levi Ives, and with the left back sprawling on the deck Whyte poked the ball beyond Neeson into the far corner.
Cliftonville's Rory Donnelly got on the end of a Jaimie McGovern cross and flicked a header wide a few minutes later in reply, before the Reds had a half-hearted penalty appeal turned down in the 20th minute.
The early energy of the game then faded away, but it remained end-to-end as both sides saw plenty of the ball - even if they were unable to force either goalkeeper into a save.
The first incident of the second half was a yellow card shown to Cliftonville right back McGovern, who went high on Matthew Snoddy in the 46th minute.
10 mins into the 2nd period, Declan Caddell wasted a good chance as he turned a shot wide from inside the 6-yard-box. The midfielder connected well with a Whyte cross but couldn't find the accuracy needed to extend Crusaders' lead.
A few tackles started flying in and Rory Donnelly found himself in the book after a late, desperate lunge on David Cushley near the halfway line.
Cliftonville 'keeper Neeson then produced a much more important tackle. In the 62nd minute there was a panicked scramble in his box as Caddell tried to flick it towards goal, but Neeson stuck his left boot through a crowd of red and black shirts to send the ball clear to satefy.
The visitors' Daniel Hughes then struck the side-netting after sneaking through to connect with a Cliftonville free kick that had been hopefully lumped forward.
However, Crusaders remained dangerous on the counter. Gavin Whyte showed his usual explosive turn of pace to clear 70 yards in a surging burst in the 76th minute which resulted in a driven shot from the winger that Neeson turned behind for a corner. Philip Lowry's low shot 3 minutes later forced the Reds keeper into another decent save.
Whyte typified that danger on the counter in scoring his 2nd goal of the day.
Cliftonville had surged forward in desperate search of an equaliser, and when Crusaders hacked it clear, Whyte was the only player in the Reds' half.
He used his pace to surge clear and fired low past Neeson to secure the points in style.