Rangers came into this fixture following a narrow midweek defeat at the Coleraine Showgrounds. Missing two great chances on goal cost the ‘Gers that day and that theme would continue into this encounter.
In a first half that lacked quality, the only real talking points were two sending off decisions.
The first saw Kyle Cherry dismissed on nine minutes; his tackle won the ball but referee Steven Gregg deemed it to be high and dangerous and brandished a straight red card for the midfielder.
Later in the half, Glenavon’s Jack Malone also received his marching orders for a foul on Kurtis Forsythe, the teams once again on a numerically level playing field.
On his home debut, Nedas Maciulaitis had the best chance of the opening 45 minutes when Rory Brown spilled the ball as he attempted to collect a cross, but his strike was cleared off the line by Calum Birney.
The deadlock was eventually broken twenty minutes after the interval.
Maciulaitis cut the ball back for Kurtis Forsythe in the box and the right-back’s effort took a touch off Birney to find the net.
That opener helped Rangers click into gear as Emmett McGuckin then fired a low shot past the post before Ben Tilney couldn’t net from two good openings; first he hit the post before being kept out in a one-on-one with Brown moments later.
Stuart King’s men were made to rue those missed opportunities as the visitors struck a leveller with three minutes remaining.
A free-kick into the Carrick box wreaked havoc and it was ex-Rangers defender Danny Wallace with a close range finish to equalise as the ‘Gers ended up dropping two points in disappointing fashion.
Carrick Rangers: Glendinning; Glendinning, Ervin, Gordon; Forsythe, Cherry, Anderson, Tilney; Cushley (Mitchell, 78); McGuckin, Maciulaitis (Surgenor, 87).
Unused substitutes: Hogg, Gawne, Kalla, Buchanan-Rolleston, Dupree.
Glenavon: Brown; Kerr, Birney, Doyle (Hamilton, 84), Wallace; Snoddy (Doran, 68), Baird (O’Connor, 58), Garrett, Malone, Campbell; Prendergast.
Unused substitutes: Matthews, Norton, Lynch, Corr.
Referee: Steven Gregg
