THE Whites moved in front after four minutes thanks to Gary Liggett who got on the end of a Jordan Hughes right-wing cross to nod the ball past Alan Blayney.

However, Linfield levelled on ten minutes after Michael Carvill had been brought down by Philip Simpson inside the area with Rory Patterson sending Billy Brennan the wrong way from the subsequent spot-kick.

And Patterson grabbed his second of the night ten minutes later when he cut inside from the night before drilling a low shot under Brennan.

Jamie Mulgrew then added a third for the Blues with a thumping 30-yard drive into the top right corner which gave Brennan no chance.

Neal Gawley set up a tense finish when, on 83 minutes, he delivered a direct free-kick past Alan Blayney into the bottom left-hand corner to reduce the deficit.

Lisburn Distillery: Brennan, Callaghan, McShane, Hunter, Simpson, McCullough, Thompson, Liggett,
Cooling, Hughes, Cushley subs Patton (replaced Cushley 69), Gawley (replaced Hughes 73), Ferguson (not used), Gardiner (not used), Davidson (replaced McCullough 46)

Linfield: Blayney, Armstrong, Lowry, Hanley, Fordyce, Patterson, Ervin, Mulgrew, Watson, McAllister, Casement subs Douglas (not used), Curran (not used), Thompson (replaced McAllister 84), Carvill (replaced Fordyce 80), B.J. Burns (replaced Gault 86)