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Mark McAllister, Peter Thompson and Jamie Mulgrew were on target as champions Linfield beat Donegal Celtic.

Striker McAllister raced through in the 15th minute to slot a low shot past home keeper John Connolly.

Philip Lowry's header then forced a good save by Connolly while Donegal Celtic's Sean Cleary struck an upright with a long-range shot.

Thompson found room in the area to fire in Linfield's second before Mulgrew ran through to make it 3-0 late on.

It was front man Thompson's third league goal of the season, the other two having come in the 4-0 home win over DC in August.

The result made it back-to-back wins for the Premiership title holders who may be finding a bit of form after a sticky start to the campaign.

"I thought the performance was first class," said Blues manager David Jeffrey.

"We knew we would be up against a committed Donegal Celtic side and our players had to be up for the challenge.

"Both sides had spells in the first half but I felt we should have come in more than 1-0 up at half-time.

"Donegal Celtic tested us in the second half but my players responded well by scoring two more goals and keeping a clean sheet."