Larne's scrappy 1-0 win over Portadown on Friday was far from one of their best wins of the season, but it could prove to be one of the most vital.

Striker Kevin O'Hara, who has struggled for consistent game time since his summer move from Hamilton Academical, came off the bench to nod home a late winner as Larne finally broke Portadown's resolve.

The victory not only ended a run of three games at home without a win, but helped the champions make ground on Irish Premiership pacesetters Coleraine and fellow challengers Linfield, who were both held to draws over the weekend.

BBC Sport NI takes a look at a mixed weekend for the league's top three teams and where it leaves the title race.

Champions fighting back

Larne's win on Friday night moved them to within six points of Linfield, who drew 1-1 with Dungannon Swifts on Saturday.

It also narrowed the gap to Coleraine to nine points after the Bannsiders could only draw 1-1 with Duncan Ferguson's Glentoran, also on Friday.

Crucially, Gary Haveron's side have two games in hand over the Bannsiders and the Blues as they look to claw back the deficits.

Larne made an impressive start to their title defence, with six wins and a draw from their first seven league games.

Then they began to stutter, suffering back-to-back home defeats by Coleraine and Linfield within four days in October.

They surrendered a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 against Ruaidhri Higgins' side and fell to a 2-1 defeat against Linfield, despite going ahead in that game too.

The Inver Reds bounced back by coming from behind to beat Bangor, before dropping more points as they drew 1-1 with Limavady United midweek.

The sign of champions is being able to win even when you aren't playing particularly well and boss Haveron was pleased they "got over the line" in the end against Portadown and picked up all three points, especially with those around them slipping up this weekend.

He will also hope they can now get fully back on track, but they face a tough task in their next game, away to Cliftonville on Friday night.

Leaders pegged back by Ferguson's Glentoran

All the attention before, during and after Coleraine's 1-1 draw with Glentoran was on the east Belfast side's new boss Duncan Ferguson, so it slipped under the radar that this game was two points dropped for the leaders.

Joel Cooper curled in a terrific opener and the Bannsiders looked to be on their way to victory against a tepid Glentoran side at the break.

But the Glens were much improved in the second half and Coleraine were left to rue their inability to score a second and put the game to bed.

Matthew Shevlin came closest, but his low effort came back off the post before some poor defending allowed the diminutive Jordan Stewart to stoop in at the back post to head in an equaliser for the Glens, the third time in three games against Coleraine in recent seasons that Stewart has scored that type of goal.

Higgins said after the game he was "incredibly frustrated" that they "didn't have the game put away" by the time Stewart popped up to equalise on 88 minutes.

It's a small setback in the grand scheme of things for the Bannsiders as it is only the third time this season they have dropped points.

It was only their second draw of the season and with Linfield then subsequently being held by the Swifts, they still hold a three-point lead at the top of the table and are unbeaten in their last five since defeat by the Blues at home in September.

They have the chance for revenge and to further stretch their advantage in their next game as they take on Linfield at Windsor Park in a mouth-watering game on Saturday (18:00 GMT) which will be live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website.

Linfield slip up against Swifts

Speaking of David Healy's side, they will be frustrated they could not take advantage of Coleraine's slip up, but will also feel relieved to come away with a 1-1 draw against a battling Swifts side on Saturday.

Like Coleraine, Linfield's disappointment will be that they failed to build on the in-form Matthew Fitzpatrick's opener, especially as they had chances to do so.

None were more clear-cut than substitute Kobei Moore's opportunity as he somehow missed connecting with the ball from inside the six-yard box when all Kirk Millar's low cross needed was a touch to steer it home.

That miss, like Shevlin's for the Bannsiders, ultimately proved crucial as Moore then conceded a free-kick from which Steven Scott found an equaliser after some poor defending from the hosts.

Ethan McGee was then sent off for Linfield, but the Swifts failed to make their numerical advantage count as both sides had to settle for a point.

Healy remarked after the game that his side found a way to "squander the lead" with his disappointment no doubt stemming from the fact that a win would have taken his side level on points with Coleraine before next weekend's titanic tussle.

The home draw extended their unbeaten run to 13 games after opening day defeat by Ballymena United.

After that 3-0 home reverse way back in August, many thought Linfield would be in for a season of struggle, but they have recovered well to put themselves right in the mix for the Gibson Cup.

Another statement win against Coleraine next week, like they produced at the Showgrounds at the end of the September, and they will seriously fancy their chances of reclaiming the title they won two seasons ago.

One thing is for sure, it is already set up to be a gripping title race between the three teams.