Newington and Ballyclare secure Irish Cup upsets

Joe Gormley opened the scoring for Cliftonville in their win over Loughgall

Championship sides Newington and Ballyclare Comrades secured Irish Cup upsets on Saturday as they defeated Newry City and Dungannon Swifts.

Comrades came back from 2-1 down to earn a late 3-2 victory over Swifts.

Top flight leading trio Linfield, Larne, Cliftonville all won, along with second tier Portadown and Institute.

Linfield saw off Ballymena United 2-0 in their sixth round tie at Windsor Park, Larne were comfortable 5-0 victors over Glenavon and Cliftonville were emphatic 4-0 winners over Loughgall.

Portadown edged Bangor 2-1 to continue their impressive form in knockout competitions this season, with Institute beating Ards 1-0.

Donnelly scored twice in the space of five first-half minutes to mark his debut with a win, while Darius Roohi's late goal sparked the match-winning celebrations for Ballyclare at Stangmore Park.

Blues advance to last eight

Linfield's quest for a 45th Irish Cup continues as David Healy's side got the better of Ballymena United.

Goals from Chris McKee in the first half and Chris Shields in the second secured the win.

Linfield broke the deadlock on 14 minutes, as McKee was in the right place at the right time. The forward couldn't miss from six yards out after Kirk Millar's shot-come-cross was deflected into his path.

Ballymena United came out in the second half and looked the more threatening, but they were dealt a hammer blow midway through the half as Stephen McCullough brought McKee down from behind inside the area.

Shields stepped up for the Blues and doubled their lead on 65 minutes, sending Sean O'Neill the wrong way by finding the bottom left-hand corner.

Larne convincing winners

Larne's pursuit of a first ever Irish Cup triumph continues as they cruised into the last eight by thrashing Glenavon 5-0 at Inver Park.

Larne went in front eight minutes before the interval when Sean Graham's pinpoint through ball sent Lee Bonis racing clear and he rounded keeper Gareth Deane. He still had a fair bit of work to do but he cleverly dummied a defender before finding the net with an assured finish.

Bonis doubled his and Larne's tally on 42 minutes when he ran onto a long ball from Levi Ives and took advantage of hesitation between defender Danny Wallace and keeper Gareth Deane to get between the Glenavon pair and head into an unguarded net.

Wallace was again culpable for Larne's third goal on 52 minutes as he failed to cut out Bonis' flicked header and Andy Ryan showed great hunger to get to the loose ball ahead of Deane and slide the ball home.

Glenavon's day went from bad to worse just short of the hour mark when defender Isaac Baird pulled back Andy Ryan inside the penalty area and was red-carded, with Ryan sending Gareth Deane the wrong way from the resultant penalty.

Bonis completed his hat-trick on 77 minutes when, after some intricate build-up play, substitute Paul O'Neill unselfishly squared for Bonis to smash home from close range.