Danske Bank Premiership
CLIFTONVILLE bounced back from their recent nightmare in Larne with a Rory Hale-inspired 4-2 win at Coleraine on Saturday afternoon.
The Reds were two up inside the opening eight minutes at Ballycastle Road thanks to a brace of fine strikes from Hale and, although Coleraine pulled a goal back before half-time through Conor McKendry, Paddy McLaughlin’s men weren’t about to let the points slip from their grasp. In the second-half, Ryan Curran and Joe Gormley headers either side of a Matthew Shevlin conversion for the home side ensured Cliftonville returned to north Belfast with the win.
“It was a good team performance right throughout,” said McLaughlin afterwards.
“You couldn’t pick one individual out and say it was their work that got us the win – it was down to everybody on the pitch. Even the two boys that came on late on – Chris Curran and Joe Gormley – they got us over the line, with Joe scoring the goal to seal the game.”
Although the Reds have now shipped six goals in their last two league games, McLaughlin refused to be critical of the defensive effort of his team.
“There wasn’t much we could do about the two goals – one was a deflection and the other was a cross-cum-shot,” the Derry man added.
“Outside of that, I thought our play and goals were excellent. It’s what we’re all about. The disappointment of last week was put to bed. It was important we bounced back straight away and we did that.
“Defensively, we were excellent. Jamie Robinson and Jonny Addis were superb in there and, up top, Ronan Hale ran himself into the ground along with his brother Rory. From top to bottom, I thought the boys were excellent.”
Cliftonville’s north Belfast rivals were determined not to be left in the shade on Saturday as Crusaders also hit four, at home to Portadown, to stay a point ahead of the Reds in the table.
Adam Lecky opened the scoring for the Crues with an inch-perfect header before McAuley Snelgrove found the bottom left-hand corner with a fine strike. Lecky got his second after the break from the penalty spot and Jude Winchester rounded off the scoring with a strike from outside the box.
Glentoran stay in second place thanks to a 1-0 win over Newry City, Conor McMenamin grabbing what proved to be the winner in the 12th minute.
At Mourneview, Glenavon were also among the goals in a 4-2 victory over Carrick Rangers while, on Friday, Dungannon Swifts and Ballymena United played out a 1-1 draw at Stangmore Park.
