CLIFTONVILLE secured their first league win in six outings thanks to a Joe Gormley brace in their 2-1 win against Coleraine at Solitude on Tuesday evening.
The record goalscorer slotted home a penalty in the first half and won the game midway through the second after Jamie McGonigle had restored parity in between times.
Reds boss Jim Magilton praised his sides approach to the game and felt they were deserving winners on the night.
“I thought that we approached the game with real tenacity and real purpose,” he reflected.
“In the changing room before the game, we thought that we let the game slip away from us on Saturday and we knew that we had to present ourselves because Coleraine are a very good side.
“They’ve some outstanding individuals and were on the back of a fantastic win against the league leaders on Saturday so we knew we had to be resolute and resilient. We were and I think overall, we deserved the win”.
Magilton made four changes from the weekend’s scoreless draw at home to Glenavon. Shaun Leppard was sidelined with a broken and dislocated ankle and injury also ruled out Sean Stewart, whilst Rory Donnelly and Ronan Doherty dropped to the bench.
Arran Pettifer, Micheál Glynn, Taylor Steven, and Joe Gormley all came into the starting XI.
Coleraine applied the early pressure and should have been ahead inside of three minutes under the Solitude lights.
Jack Scott’s shot was helped on by Graham Kelly and a wonderful reflex save from David Odumosu denied the defender with Matthew Shevlin’s follow-up blocked.
It was Cliftonville who would make the breakthrough and score their first league goal since the end of September.
Jim Magilton
A poor breakdown in communication from Coleraine saw Dylan Boyle throw the ball back towards Graham Kelly- who wasn’t on the same wavelength and Rory Hale nipped in and was felled by Kelly with referee Evan Boyce pointing to the spot.
Joe Gormley took responsibility and netted his second spot kick of the campaign to give his side the lead.
They could have doubled their lead when Gormley’s cross field pass was cut out and Shea Kearney raced onto the loose ball and saw his shot spilled by Bannsiders keeper Max Little, but he recovered to prevent Ryan Corrigan from inflicting further damage.
Coleraine drew level on the half hour mark after Jamie Glackin robbed Shea Kearney of possession and slipped in Jamie McGonigle to roll the ball across the face of goal and into the corner.
Dean Shiels’ side had the momentum though Rhys Campbell got his shot all wrong from Shevlin’s flick-on and McGonigle shot into the chest of Odumosu from Dylan Boyle’s through ball.
Just before the break an Arran Pettifer snapshot drew a fine stop from Max Little at the expense of a corner, which came to nothing as the sides went in level at the break.
Joe Gormley almost profited from a Graham Kelly mistake moments after the restart, when Kelly’s header back towards goal lacked pace and the striker raced onto but only managed to shoot straight at Little from a tight angle.
The 34-year-old made no mistake though with his next opportunity midway through the second half.
Shea Kearney met Max Little’s goal kick and his headed flick on fell to Rory Hale whose attempted forward pass was partially cleared by Kyle McClelland, but Arran Pettifer knocked the ball into the path of Gormley to slot home to give Cliftonville the lead.
Shiels tried to act quickly with a triple change, withdrawing Jamie McGonigle, Rhys Campbell and Ciaran Harkin for Conor Murray, Mackenzie Carse and Corey Smith.
The Bannsiders forced a few late opportunities as Senan Devine saw a shot unconvincingly clawed behind by David Odumosu and Corey Smith then dropped in a cross that Matthew Shevlin glanced wide.
At the other end Joe Gormley ran onto a pass in behind and tried to square to Ryan Curran for a tap-in, though Jack Scott was waiting in the wings and made the clearance.
The sides are famed for their 2-2 draws over the years, but on this occasion Cliftonville held out for a much-needed victory.
CLIFTONVILLE: Odumosu, Kearney, Newberry, Addis, Glynn, Pepper (Doherty 57’), Pettifer (Piesold 76’), Hale, Steven (Curran 76’), Corrigan (Donnelly 70’), Gormley.
COLERAINE: Little, Boyle, Kelly (McLaughlin 85’), Campbell (Carse 67’), Scott, Shevlin, McClelland, Harkin (Smith 67’), Glackin, McGonigle (Murray 67’), Devine.
REFEREE: Evan Boyce
