In the Men’s Premier League Portadown won 5-0 away to Belfast Harlequins to close the gap between the sides to just three points.
The visitors took the lead after just two minutes when Jamie Wright was picked out in the circle before his reverse strike found the bottom corner.
Just moments later it was 2-0 when a well-worked short corner routine was deflected in by Mark Campbell.
Two more goals from James McQuitty and a strike from Adam Stevenson sealed the victory and marked a dramatic win against an opponent who beat them 5-1 earlier in the season.
Cookstown maintained their lead at the top of the division as they won 3-1 at Raphoe.
Two short corner strikes from Jack Haycock and a goal from Michael Kerr sealed the result which makes it three wins in a row for the league leaders.
Elsewhere Queen’s University continued their upturn in form as they beat NICS 2-0 with goals from Conor Irwin and Aidan McMahon.
The win makes it three victories in a row as they stay sixth in the table, three points behind fifth-placed Portadown.
South Antrim maintained pace with those around them as they beat North Down 4-3 in Comber.
Two goals from Chris Henry and strikes from teammates Turner and Patterson gave the side all three points but it wasn’t plain sailing as Josh Gilmore got his fourth and fifth goals of the season whilst Gareth McKeown got his eighth for the hosts.
However, South Antrim held out for all three points with the win keeping them within three points of the top of the table whilst North Down remain eighth, one point ahead of NICS.
The final game of the day saw another seven-goal thriller as Kilkeel beat Bangor to stay one point behind league leaders Cookstown.
The division’s top goalscorer Luke Russell got his 14th of the season as his side edged a narrow win away from home which also saw them bounce back from defeat last week.
As for Bangor, the youthful side have now lost three games in a row with Saturday’s result keeping them seventh in the table.
PHOTO: Front Row Union
