The big front man struck on 15 minutes with a low drive to the right in off an upright after Stephen Lowry had been brought down by Conor Walsh.

Ten minutes later at the other end United 'keeper Michael Doherty raced out of his area to bring down Nathan McConnell with a high tackle but despite the home protests the Limavady custodian only received a yellow card.

Later in the half Doherty risked another caution when he appeared to carry the ball outside the area. Had he been booked he would have been off and the outcome to this game could have been very different.

Of the chances that were created in an at times sluggish encounter it was Glenavon who came closest to registering with a Gerard McMahon drive just after the hour which Doherty tipped over being particularly noteworthy.