COOPER BAGS HAT-TRICK AS BLUES STRETCH LEAD
Linfield’s lead at the top of the Sports Direct Premiership stretched to 15 points after a first-half Joel Cooper hat-trick helped the Blues to victory over Portadown at Shamrock Park.
Cooper needed just three minutes to edge Linfield in front after getting on the end of Matthew Fitzpatrick’s flick to slot the ball home from a tight angle.
And he struck again just three minutes after that, this time after nipping in front of keeper Aaron McCarey to get to a defensive header.
Cooper then bagged his hat-trick before the half-hour mark when pounced on an error in the Ports rearguard to coolly find the net.
The Ports did pull one back on the hour through Tabu Rabby Minzamba bundled finish but David Healy’s side held on to claim the points.
Portadown: McCarey, Altintop, MacKinnon, Chapman, Mayse, McCullough, Fyfe, Ukek, Teelan, Minzamba, Thompson subs Williamson, Wilson, McElroy, Wylie, Traynor, Obhakhan, McCartan
Linfield: Walsh, Roscoe, East, Whiteside, Shields, Millar, McClean, Cooper, Ballantyne, Fitzpatrick, Orr subs Johns, Allen, McKee, Archer, McGee, Annett, McKay
Substitution 
Substitution 
