AFTER the opening north Belfast derby of the season failed to ignite, Cliftonville and Crusaders get another chance to draw first blood at Solitude on Friday night.
Ryan Curran scored from the penalty spot for the Reds at Seaview in August but Kieran Offord levelled two minutes later for the home side and the game petered out to a 1-1 draw.
Ten games on, we are no closer to knowing who the real title challengers and who are pretenders, such has been the open and inconsistent nature of the Sports Direct Premiership so far.
Cliftonville play host to their Shore Road neighbours with a one-point advantage over the Crues, having played a game more.
Both teams have had spells of losing three league games on the bounce this season, and both have been able to bounce back in recent weeks.
Crusaders were unbeaten in the first four games of their campaign – including that derby draw – before they hit the skids and manager Declan Caddell accepts his team was punished for their complacency.
With both teams playing well, Caddell expects a cracker tonight rather than the slow-burner we saw in August.
“Traditionally those games are fire and aggression, but as I’ve said previously I think that was probably the mildest north Belfast derby I’ve witnessed in a long time,” said the former Crues midfielder.
“Credit to both teams, they were trying to get the ball down and play, we saw some good football and a draw was probably a fair result.”
Caddell is well aware his side are in for a tough test tonight, with Cliftonille having recovered impressively from their own rocky patch.
“Cliftonville went through a wee rocky patch but they’ve turned a corner by winning their last two games, against Coleraine and Linfield, two great victories for them.
“They’ve been solid at the back and they are scoring goals again, which is a positive for Jim [Magilton] and something we have to be wary about.
“They lost four top strikers in the summer and that is always difficult to replace, and anyone you bring in is always going to take a while to find their feet.”
And Caddell pointed to talismanic midfiekder Rory Hale as a player his side need to keep quiet this evening.
“Rory Hale was probably a massive miss for them in the first couple of months, but he’s back now and playing well,” he said.
“He’s back to where he should be and is a threat for any team. He’s arguably one of the best midfielders in the league on his day. They have quality right through their team.
“They went through that run of not scoring goals then up pops the goal machine Joe Gormley – Mr Reliable.
“He’s playing well again, as is Ryan Curran. They are full of quality.”
After losing three games on the bounce in September, Crusaders have recovered well and Caddell has full faith in his players.
“We’ve picked up 10 points out of a possible 15 with the only defeat coming against Linfield, which was a close game to be fair. I’m happy where the boys are at,” he said.
“Form has been good but it goes out the window for games like this. We’re playing well and so are Cliftonville.
“For me the north Belfast derby comes down to what team wants it more and I think you’ll see that tonight.
“They are two good squads, two good teams and it will be a good game, I’ve no doubt about that.”