Danny Gibson's hat-trick put Carrick Rangers 5-2 ahead after the first leg of the Irish Premier League promotion/relegation play-off.

Visitors ran out of the block and never looked back, and Carrick's top scorer Gibson found the net for the first time after 11 minutes.

A perfectly placed header from Luke McCullough lured Gibson at the foot of the corner, and the forward, undoubtedly, confidently dispatched the close-range party to get the gers on the road.

Six minutes later, Carrick quickly doubled his advantage. Gibson became the provider this time, skating a clever skating goal besides defender Lee Upton. Paul Heatley sprints transparently, keeping his calming very well to make it slide low and slide inside the near-close post.

Stephen Baxter's man is not over yet. On the half-hour mark, Joe Crowe's long-standing trademark has made Annagh's defenders desperately work to clean up the billiards.

Nedas Maciulaitis responded the fastest, bringing the loose ball to Gibson, who had his second goal halfway through the close range of goalkeeper Joel Little.

With the owner still rolling up, Gibson completed the hat trick four minutes before the interval. Crowe once again played a key role, kicking a small long goal out of Gibson's path.

The lead singer played a clear game in close range and drilled a precise low shot in close range, thus crowning a ruthless first-half performance from the Premier League side.

After the break, Ciaran McGurgan was determined to save something and managed to reduce the deficit in 49 minutes. A long shot from halftime substitute Craig Taylor soared to the highest upside of Upton, planting a solid header from six yards, providing hope for a comeback to the summary of the championship outfit.

But Carrick quickly regained his firm grip on the game, hitting their fifth goal a little before a hour.

The impressive Gibson is once again influential, bringing Crowe's long-term free kick point into a crowded free throw area.

A lucky deflection of Maciulaitis directed the ball directly to Heatley's path, which shot clinically for the second night.

Gibson almost grabbed his fourth time soon after, cleverly bypassing Nathan Kerr, but under pressure, his efforts were narrowly swinging.

However, the last sentence of Mid-Ulster costume went deep into the downtime, with substitute Taylor curling a grand free kick to the top corner, oozing optimism into the second leg of Friday night.