Joe Gormley grabbed the winner and the bragging rights as Cliftonville hung on for a hard-fought 1-0 win in tonight’s Premiership north Belfast derby against Crusaders.
The veteran striker struck in the first half but it was to be the only goal of the game as the Reds hung on against sustained Crues’ pressure after the break.
Elsewhere, Portadown backed up their win over Larne last week with a superb 3-0 win at Ballymena United. Josh Ukek, Ryan Mayse and Eamon Fyfe with the goals that all came late in the second half.
On a night where weather conditions were perfect for an open game, it was Crusaders who had the first meaningful effort on target after on nine minutes.
The club’s leading scorer Kieran Offord surged into the box, but his near-post strike was met by a smart save from David Odumosu, who dropped quickly to deny the visitors an opener.
Ten minutes later and it Cliftonville’s turn to test the reflexes of the opposing goalkeeper.
Rory Hale reacted quickest to Jimmy Callacher’s block on a Ronan Doherty through ball, before the midfielder unleashed a powerful drive from distance that Jonny Tuffey did well to tip over the crossbar.
Jordan Forsythe then should have put the Crues ahead but couldn’t convert from close range before Gormley made no mistake at the other end on 39 minutes.
Shea Kearney shared passes with Aaron Pettifer before threading a pass through to the striker.
Gormley then made no mistake from eight yards out, calmly slotting past Jonny Tuffey for his seventh goal of the season to send the home support into hedonistic celebrations.
Fifteen minutes after the break and Gormley almost turned provider, playing a superb cross with the outside of his foot that passed within inches of the outstretched Ryan Curran, a lucky escape for Declan Caddell’s men.
Crusaders grew into the game after this, going close through Philip Lowry - with a long-range effort – before Forsythe should have done better once more, as he failed to get on the end of a Robbie Weir cross.
Cliftonville struggled to contain the former Linfield man Jordan Stewart after he was introduced from the bench, however, Jim Magilton’s men managed to hang on for the win and jumped to second in the Premiership as they find themselves right back in the title race.
Meanwhile, at the Showgrounds, Ballymena stumbled their way to a third-consecutive defeat as they capitulated in the last 11 minutes of the game.
After an even 79 minutes on Warden Street, Ukek burst into the box before firing past a helpless Sean O’Neill in goal for the opener.
Just three minutes later and substitute Mayse added a quick second for the away side.
In similar fashion to the opener, the forward was played through on goal, raced into the box and smashed the ball into the back of the net against his former club to leave Sky Blues’ boss Jim Ervin gobsmacked.
Before the crowd had got their breath back, the crowd witnessed a third for the Ports on 86 minutes.
Fyfe grabbed his second in as many games after he converted a Mayse cross after finding himself in acres of space to move Currie’s men fifth in the table.
