NIFL Premiership
Cliftonville 3-0 Carrick Rangers 

CLIFTONVILLE secured their second league win in 2025 with a comfortable 3-0 win over Carrick Rangers at Solitude on Wednesday evening. 

Rory Hale netted for a third successive game in a row to give his side the lead at the break, and on his first start since his January arrival, Alex Parsons doubled the advantage, with Stephen McGuinness striking late on to make sure it was a stress-free conclusion. 

Reds boss Jim Magilton felt his team dominated for long periods and was pleased with various aspects throughout. 

“There were long periods of real domination and creating opportunities, so I’m delighted,” he reflected. 

“You’re always aware that Carrick carry a massive threat, not only through set-pieces but with the individual players they have. 

“You’re always conscious that they can hit you on the counter-attack and they did and they were unlucky a few times. 

“Overall, I was really pleased with our passing, really pleased with our movement, really pleased with creating the opportunities that we did and obviously, really pleased that we scored three goals and kept a clean sheet.”

It was a much-changed XI from Sunday's 2-2 draw with Portadown as Magilton rang the changes. 

Lewis Ridd returned in goal, while there were starts for Kris Lowe, Stephen McGuinness, Micheál Glynn and Shea Gordon, with Alex Parsons partnering Eric McWoods in attack. 

The hosts began brightly as Eric McWoods saw his shot blocked by Jack McIntyre in the Rangers goal. McIntyre had to be alert to thwart Alex Parsons with a tremendous save a few minutes later. 

Carrick could have hit the front when Danny Gibson skipped into a promising position, but his pull-back across the face of goal evaded a telling touch from on-loan Larne midfielder Jack Hastings. 

Parsons sent a curling effort off target before the opener arrived in the 27th minute.  It’s one that Carrick keeper Jack McIntyre won’t want to watch back as his routine pass from the back was seized upon by Rory Hale, who thumped a shot low into the bottom corner to make it three in three games in February. 

As the half drew to a close, Stephen Baxter decided to introduce Eric Foley and his impact was almost instant, forcing Lewis Ridd into action, but he held onto the header via a deflection off Stephen McGuinness as Hale’s strike proved the difference at the interval. 

Carrick Rangers were much improved in the early stages of the second half. Nedas Maciulaitis let fly with a shot that Ridd held onto. 

The visitors thought they had restored parity when a long throw into the area wasn’t convincingly dealt with and Kyle Cherry’s header from close range was scrambled into the body of Ridd on the line.  Despite an eruption of cheers from the Rangers' support and Cherry about to wheel away in celebration, referee Jamie Robinson wasn’t convinced that Cherry’s header had crossed the line. 

Cliftonville doubled their advantage on the hour mark. Stephen McGuinness saw an angled shot crash off the outside of the post, but 60 seconds later, debutant Alex Parsons opened his account for the club. 

A clipped ball forward hit Reece Webb in the face and he was unable to react quick enough to complete the clearance, with Parsons nipping in and firing to the net via the underside of the bar to make it 2-0. 

Things were a bit more comfortable for the Solitude faithful, who wrapped things up in the 90th minute. 

Kris Lowe’s cross ricocheted and fell to Destiny Ojo, he laid the ball off to the edge of the box where Stephen McGuinness was situated to steer home his second goal since returning from his loan spell with Bangor in January. 

Victory moved Cliftonville into sixth place ahead of a difficult meeting with Glenavon at the weekend. 

CLIFTONVILLE: Ridd, Lowe, Casey, Keaney, McGuinness, Wilson (Pepper 85’), Hale (Ojo 78’), Gordon, Glynn (Addis 46’), Parsons (Corrigan 74’), McWoods (Curran 46’). 

CARRICK RANGERS: McIntyre, Maciulaitis (Forbes 76’), McCullough, Buchanan-Rolleston (O’Brien 65’), Cherry (Cushley 65’), Gibson, Webb (Forsythe 76’), Boyle, Hastings, O’Reilly (Foley 36’), O’Malley. 

REFEREE: Jamie Robinson