Odhran Casey scored a 95th minute equaliser as Cliftonville salvaged a 2-2 draw with Glentoran in tonight’s Sports Direct Irish Premiership tie at the Oval.
Glens captain Marcus Kane celebrated his 400th appearance for the club with an outstanding defensive display in an exciting encounter. Neither side changed position in the table, but the Reds maintain pressure on Larne in second.
Aidan Wilson and Bobby Burns scored in the first half for the home team, whilst Ronan Hale scored a memorable effort just after the break, before Casey headed home in the dying seconds of the game.
The hosts were the first to worry the scoreboard on seven minutes, when Daire O’Connor broke clear of the Reds defence after chasing onto a David Fisher through ball, but his low shot was well saved by David Odumosu in goal.
With Warren Feeney’s side growing more confident in the game, they almost went a goal behind on the half-hour mark when Ronan Hale had the ball in the net. However, Joe Gormley’s initial header off the post was adjudged to have been offside and the goal was disallowed, much to the relief of the home fans.
Glentoran seemed to be spurred on by their slice of luck in defence as Junior went close to scoring, before Wilson grabbed the opener on 38 minutes. Bobby Burns’ in-swinging free-kick was met by the head of Wilson, who directed the ball into the roof of the net.
Just as Jim Magilton’s side were content to get into the sheds at half-time to reset, Glentoran doubled their lead right on the referee’s whistle. Stephen McGuiness played the ball straight to Bobby Burns on the edge of the area, and the midfielder drove a low effort into the bottom right corner of the net for his fourth goal of the season.
Whatever Magilton said to his troops at the break seemed to have an instant impact as they grabbed a goal back after only three minutes of the restart. Dangerman Ronan Hale cut inside from the left side of the box before unleashing a trademark curling effort that found the far corner of Olly Webber’s goal.
As the visitors pushed hard for an equaliser, left-back Patrick Burns, the brother of Bobby, came on just after the hour mark for his Cliftonville debut for the first competitive game between the two siblings.
The north Belfast side continued to dominate possession in the closing stages, often threatening down the right flank via Stephen Mallon, and just as it looked like they were set to suffer a first league defeat in three months, up popped Casey.
Rory Hale dug out a cross from the left under pressure and Casey rose highest to flick the ball into the far corner beyond the grasp of Webber, to the absolute delight of the travelling support.
Glentoran: Webber, Kane, McCullough, Wilson, Burns, O’Connor, Sule, Clucas, Fisher, Russell, Junior
Subs: Lorcan Donnelly, McCartan, Jay Donnelly, Murphy, Kelly, Lindsay, Wightman
Cliftonville: Odumosu, Addis, Kenny, Rory Hale, Gordon, Doherty, Gormley, Casey, Ronan Hale, Kearney, McGuiness
Subs: Gartside, Pepper, Curran, Mallon, Burns, Ashford, Wilson