Glentoran closed the gap on league leaders Larne to two points with a 4-0 win over Bangor at Clandboy Park.
Ross Clark scored twice in the first half and James Singleton and Pat Hoban added to the Glens’ tally after the restart.
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At Seaview Stadium, Cliftonville won the North Belfast derby thanks to a 93rd minute goal from Joe Gormley.
Elsewhere, Barris Altintop’s own goal, Kyle Maclean’s penalty and Adam Frizzell’s strike sealed three points for Linfield against 10-man Portadown.
Glens beat Seasiders with ease
Glentoran opened the scoring in the 19th minute when Jack Malone crossed from the left to the far side, Cami Palmer passed the ball to the near post and Clark guided the ball past goalkeeper Gareth Dean.
The former Crusaders winger reached the six-yard box in the 26th minute to convert Singleton’s low cross from the left channel to double his and the visitors’ tally.
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Bangor struggled to make an impact and their best chance fell to Istin Hughes who raced a through ball but although his shot beat goalkeeper Andrew Mills it hit the outside of the side netting.
The home side came close to pulling a goal back when substitute Michael Morgan ran over and passed the ball past the advancing Mills, but his shot bounced off the top of the crossbar and into the goal.
The home side suffered another blow in the 64th minute when Glentoran got their third goal when Singleton fired the ball into the bottom corner after a long pass from the right wing.
East Belfast then added their fourth goal in the 76th minute, Hoban taking advantage of defensive confusion between Dean and Lewis Francis to fire the ball into an unmarked net.
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Super substitute Gormley scores for the Reds
Cliftonville got off to a brighter start and almost took the lead through fortuitous circumstances when Curtis Forsythe attempted to head Joe Toole’s ball back to Moussa Dibaga, only to tip the ball past the stranded keeper and watch it narrowly miss the Crusaders’ goal.
Kevan Hawthorn threatened midway through the first half when the winger was allowed to turn and break through the Crews defence, but his left-footed shot was safely diverted to the alert Dibaga.
Jim Magilton’s side created their best chance of the opening game shortly afterwards when Jonny Addis’ shot was blocked in the path of Adebayo Fapitu, whose shot was cleared by Forsythe before Elliot Dunlop was quick to keep Sean Leppard’s follow-up on the goal line.
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After play resumed, Cliftonville recovered from their last outing when Liam McStravick aimed for the top right corner from distance, only to see the ball fly past the post.
Mike Strawick remained the heart of the Reds’ attack, crossing to Hale who cushioned the ball back into the path of Josh Kelly on the edge of the box. However, the player, who is on loan from Grantoran, had his first-time shot off target.
With 12 minutes remaining, Finley Thorndike advanced and fired a powerful shot from 25 yards just wide of the post to create the home side’s best chance of the game.
In stoppage time, Hale’s free kick was only cleared by Gormley, and the Reds took all three points. Gormley took a touch to steady himself before firing a low shot into the far bottom corner for his fifth league goal of the season.
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The Blues are five points adrift at the top of the table
Altintop converted Euan East’s cross into his own net and Isaac Baird was lurking, had he not made some sort of contact, the Blues would have taken the lead in less than two minutes.
The visitors equalized midway through the first half when Eamonn Fyfe completed a fine move from Devon Isamara on the right from Josh Ukek’s cross.
Kieran Offord returned for the Blues for the first time since November when play resumed, but his night was cut short after just 13 minutes as he was unable to continue following a determined challenge from Lewis MacKinnon.
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Shay McCartan was booked for a challenge on Sam Taylor on the hour mark and given his marching orders eight minutes later for bringing down Darragh Leahy in the box.
McLean made no mistake from the penalty spot a minute later and the Blues restored their slim advantage.
David Healy’s side made it three points with four minutes left when substitute Frizzell fired a left-footed shot into the bottom corner after a quick counter-attack.
