Glenavon’s revival under Paddy McLaughlin continues as they leapfrog Ballymena United into ninth place thanks to a comfortable 2-0 win over Loughgall at Lakeview Park.
The visitors started brightly and opened the scoring after 18 minutes through Atherton.
The teenager, injured just moments earlier, recovered sufficiently to waltz through a static Loughgall defence to plant a low shot under the body of advancing keeper Nathan Gartside for his first league goal of the season.
Glenavon doubled their lead just after the half hour when midfielder Jack Malone found himself unmarked inside the Loughgall penalty area and directed a powerful header past a helpless Gartside from Peter Campbell’s pin-point delivery.
There were other chances, too, as Malone forced a fine save from Gartside and Len O’Sullivan volleyed over the crossbar following a quickly taken throw-in.
And Michael O’Connor was denied a third for his side just before the break when his close range volley after James Carroll had failed to clear crashed off a post before being cleared by a relieved home defence.
Niall Quinn forced a smart stop from Gartside on the restart from a long range free-kick as the visitors looked to kill the game but Loughgall were much improved in the second period, though they failed to unduly trouble Tadhg Ryan in the visitors’ goal.
The Villagers remain rooted to the foot of the table while Glenavon continue to target the teams above them, starting with Coleraine, who are three points ahead of the Lurgan Blues, on Saturday.
