Cliftonville and Glentoran both secured 2-0 wins on Saturday to close the gap on Irish Premiership leaders Larne.
The second-placed Reds defeated Newry City at Solitude and now sit two points off top spot with a game in hand.
The Glens beat a stubborn Portadown at Shamrock Park and are three points behind Larne in third, having played two games less.
Linfield drew 0-0 with Crusaders, Dungannon Swifts beat Glenavon 1-0 and Ballymena United defeated Carrick 2-0.
Larne missed the opportunity to move further ahead at the top of the league table when they suffered a 2-0 home defeat by Coleraine on Friday night.
It was a second loss in four days for Tiernan Lynch’s men after they were beaten on Tuesday night by Linfield.
Curran and Gormley fire Reds to comfortable win
At Solitude, Cliftonville opened the scoring after 21 minutes when Joe Gormley’s pass across the face of goal found Ryan Curran, who made no mistake from close range.
Their second came near the end of a quiet second half, with substitute Luke Turner unselfishly passing to record goalscorer Gormley who tapped in from point-blank range.
It could, and should, have been more going into the break, but a series of great saves from Steven Maguire denied the home side a more comfortable lead.
Their best opportunity came after Ronan Doherty tried his luck from distance, but Maguire palmed it away spectacularly. Curran headed the ball down into the path of striker Gormley, but once again Maguire was there to deny the chance.
Defender Ryan McGivern also made a crucial clearance off the line after Ronan Hale was able to weave his way round busy keeper Maguire and shoot.
The victory means Cliftonville are unbeaten in November while defeat leaves Newry still sitting 10th in the table.
Glens bounce back by beating winless Ports
At Shamrock Park, Sean Murray gave Glentoran the lead on the stroke of half time when his free-kick from just inside the Portadown half deceived everyone and went straight in.
Substitute Bobby Burns sealed the victory six minutes from time after poking home from close range from a Marcus Kane flick-on.
Basement side Portadown, still without a league win all season, had chances to take the lead early on, with Igor Rutowski going close before Mark Russell struck the crossbar from distance.
The Ports had a penalty appeal in the 15th minute after Reece Jordan was fouled in the area, but referee Evan Boyce overruled his assistant and waved play on.
The second half was a one-way affair, with Jay Donnelly going close three times along with goalscorer Burns, while ex-Crusaders defender Aidan Wilson struck the underside of the bar from a Murray corner.
Niall Currie’s Portadown have now gone 11 hours without scoring a goal in the Premiership and have just one point from 17 league outings.
Few chances at Windsor Park
Linfield and Crusaders battled it out to a goal-less draw in a game lacking many clearcut chances. Both sides remain level in the league on 33 points in fourth and fifth place respectively.
The first half saw very few scoring opportunities at either end, with Adam Lecky coming closest to finding the net with his glancing header from a Paul Heatley cross.
Crusaders lost Robbie Weir and Daniel Larmour to injury in the opening period as Declan Caddell was called into action off the bench after retiring at the end of last season, while Stephen Fallon of Linfield also hobbled off hurt during the first 45.
Linfield enjoyed the majority of possession after the break but created very little in the way of real chances.
The best chance of the second half fell to the visitors, as substitute Jordan Owens got his head on the end of a cross to the far post, but saw his effort fall just wide of the upright.
Swifts secure second league win of season
Dungannon claimed their second league win of the season with Rhyss Campbell’s second-half goal enough to claim all three points against a below-par Glenavon at Stangmore Park.
The Swifts were dominant in the second half, and Campbell’s volley from James Knowles’ corner was a deserved reward for their efforts.
Dungannon, who were without suspended manager Dean Shiels on the sidelines, started brightly and Campbell produced a good diving stop from Glenavon keeper Rory Brown in the second minute.
The game came to life in the second half, with Swifts striker Michael O’Connor having a shot cleared off the line by Sean Ward and Campbell firing straight at Brown when through on goal, moments before making amends with his goal.
Joe McCreadie shot just wide for a buoyant Swifts and Brown then denied Campbell a second with a superb one-handed stop.
Sky Blues edge Rangers in Carrick
Second half goals from Dougie Wilson and Sean Graham gave Ballymena United a 2-0 win over Carrick Rangers at a blustery Taylor’s Avenue.
The Sky Blues almost went in front in fortuitous circumstances when Davy McDaid’s low shot almost squirmed through the grasp of Glendinning, but the experienced keeper was pleased to grasp the ball at the second attempt.
The visitors came close again two minutes after the restart when Kym Nelson teed up McDaid, but his shot was diverted onto the post by Glendinning.
Carrick had a decent opening when Alex Gawne ghosted in behind the Ballymena defence to meet Andy Mitchell’s cross but his header lacked power.
The deadlock was eventually broken on 73 minutes when Ross Redman’s in-swinging corner was nodded home at the near post by Wilson.
United wrapped up the points with three minutes left when McDaid outpaced Jim Ervin and got to the bye-line before squaring for in-rushing substitute Graham, only on the pitch a matter of seconds, to fire into the top corner.
The win takes Ballymena level on points with Glenavon, in ninth position, two points behind Carrick.
