Irish Premiership: Holders Linfield survive early scare to open title defence with win
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Blues begin title defence with win over Stute
An outstanding Jordan Stewart goal helped holders Linfield come from behind to begin their title defence with a 3-1 home win over Institute.
Kirk Millar equalised Joe McCready's penalty, with Stewart scoring from 35 yards before Ryan McGivern added a third in the second half.
Promoted Larne hammered Warrenpoint Town 6-0 while Ballymena United drew 2-2 with Dungannon Swifts.
Crusaders beat Carrick Rangers 3-0 and Coleraine drew 1-1 with Cliftonville.
Glenavon and Glentoran began the new top-flight season with a 1-1 draw at Mourneview Park on Friday night.
There was a minute's silence held before kick-off at all of the Irish Premiership matches for former Cliftonville player and manager Tommy Breslin, who died this week while on holiday in Spain.
French midfielder Bastien Hery made his Irish Premiership debut for Linfield
Managerless Institute delivered an impressive first-half display at Windsor Park and stunned the title holders by taking the lead in the sixth minute.
Gareth Brown robbed Bastien Hery of possession and went through on goal only to be brought down by goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson, with striker McCready slotting home the spot-kick.
The lead only lasted six minutes as Millar, who scored both goals in the Blues' 2-1 Europa League win over FK Sutjeska in Montenegro on Tuesday, equalised when he fired home from a low Shayne Lavery cross.
Stewart took centre stage five minutes before half-time when he saw keeper Martin Gallagher off his line and hammered a superb, dipping strike from 35 yards in under the crossbar.
David Healy's men started the second half strongly and former Northern Ireland international McGivern beat team-mate Jimmy Callacher to a Matthew Clarke corner to head home the third.
Former Cliftonville winger Martin Donnelly paid tribute to Tommy Breslin when he scored
At Inver Park, newly-promoted Larne were rampant on their return to the top flight after a 12-year absence as they hit six goals to thrash Warrenpoint.
Martin Donnelly and David McDaid both scored twice with skipper Jeff Hughes and Mark Randall, the former Arsenal midfielder who joined this summer, also on target.
Donnelly and Hughes made the most of indecision at the back to put last season's runaway Championship winners 2-0 up at the break.
McDaid scored twice in six minutes early in the second half before Randall celebrated his Larne debut with a spectacular 40-yard lob over the head of the busy Berraat Turker, with Donnelly adding a sixth four minutes from time.
Heatley scored at Seaview against his former club
Irish Cup winners Crusaders didn't need to hit top gear to comfortably overcome promoted Carrick Rangers 3-0 at Seaview.
The visitors nearly conjured up a shock early goal as Crues summer signing Jarlath O'Rourke had to block a Stewart Nixon chance but the home side were always in control after Jordan Owens glanced in Jordan Forsythe's long throw on 22 minutes.
The lively Paul Heatley hammered in the second goal on 42 minutes, after a nod-on from Ross Clarke, to effectively put the game to bed.
As the Crues appeared to get a little complacent, they needed Sean Ward to block another Nixon point-blank effort on 70 before Clarke curled in their third goal in injury-time.
It was honours even at Stangmore Park where Dungannon Swifts and Ballymena United battled out a 2-2 draw.
Cathair Friel took advantage of a poor clearance from Swifts keeper Sam Johnston to fire Ballymena ahead on 15 minutes but debutant Ryan Waide levelled for the home side just after half-time, scoring from the rebound after Ross Glendinning had parried Oisin Smyth's shot.
Substitute Ross Lavery's late free kick looked to have won it for the Sky Blues but, with the game entering stoppage time, Lavery was adjudged to have fouled Rhyss Campbell and Swifts skipper Seanan Clucas converted from the penalty spot.
Kearney was beginning his second spell in charge of Coleraine
At Ballycastle Road, Joe Gormley's late strike salvaged a point for Cliftonville as the Reds drew 1-1 with Coleraine in an entertaining clash.
Eoin Bradley's 64th-minute opener looked to have set the Bannsiders on their way to three points on manager Oran Kearney's return to the Irish Premiership.
Bradley was also denied a first-half penalty, while the hosts twice struck the woodwork, first through James McLaughlin's overhead kick, then through Ben Doherty's deflected strike.
Thomas Maguire came closest for Paddy McLaughlin's visiting side before Gormley drove home Ryan Curran's pull-back to restore parity.
