NIFL Premiership
Carrick Rangers 1
Cliftonville 3
CLIFTONVILLE came from a goal down early on to claim a 3-1 win against Carrick Rangers at Taylors Avenue on Saturday afternoon.
Trailing to an early Caleb Hawthorne goal, a quickfire response saw Kyle McClelland head home from Ben Quinn’s corner ahead of Quinn netting his fourth of the season to complete the turnaround before the break.
The hosts pushed for a leveller in the second period, but the Reds sealed all three points late on through a fantastic Dean McMaster free-kick much to the delight of boss Jim Magilton who was happy with many of his team's battling qualities at a tough venue.
“It’s a really tough place to come,” Magilton acknowledged.
“They have a way of playing and they use all those attributes – long throws, set-pieces – but people can tend to be slightly disparaging about that.
Joe Gormley holds the ball up as the Reds see out a big away win
“We scored a fantastic set-piece goal and the quality that Carrick have in their team, the quality players, the quality players that they didn’t have today, so it shows you a lot about the resilience in that group too to put up such a fantastic showing.
“You know that you’re going to have to work hard, you know that they’re going to ask you questions, you have to be brave, you have to be strong defensively.
“There were parts of our game that were very pleasing, obviously the goals were well-worked goals, two great set-pieces and a fantastic individual effort.
“Nobody will remember too much about the game other than probably the result. I think we can play better with the ball, but certainly that’s down to how hard Carrick set up and how hard they made it for us”.
Magilton named an unchanged starting XI from last weekend's 3-1 win over Portadown at Solitude.
It was Carrick who drew first blood inside of ten minutes. Jordan Forsythe’s long throw to the box was met by Dan O’Connor, Nedius Maciulaitis and Kyle McClelland jumped for the loose ball that broke to Aidan Steele whose thumping volley struck the underside of the bar with debutant Caleb Hawthorne nipping to turn the loose ball past PJ Morrison and make it 1-0.
Cliftonville responded and were level within five minutes. Former Cliftonville keeper Nathan Gartside was unable to punch clear Ben Quinn’s corner from the left and Kyle McClelland headed home at the back post for his second goal since making his loan-move from Glenavon permanent in the summer.
The Amber Army should have regained the lead midway through the first half when Liam McStravick’s pass was cut out by Steele who threaded a pass into the path of Danny Gibson, but PJ Morrison got there ahead of the striker and gathered.
Ten minutes before the break Cliftonville forged ahead for the first time. Liam McStravick slid a pass to Rory Hale out wide, it looked to have escaped the Reds skipper only for Ben Quinn to play a quick one-two with his captain and combine with McStravick, he held the ball up before releasing Quinn to squeeze a low shot in at the near post for his fourth goal of the season, making it 2-1 at the break.
Carrick began the second period brightly, Forsythe launched a long throw into the box that Aidan Steele swooped to meet though Morrison gathered ahead of Steele’s stretch to turn the ball home from the ricochet.
Rory Hale threaded a wide pass to Liam McStravick whose shot lacked direction and Gartside intercepted.
At the other end a long throw was partially cleared but Kym Nelson curled a cross into the back post where Aidan Steele popped up and touched the ball goalwards and off the bar, with PJ Morrison completing the clearance.
The hosts thought their pressure had paid off when substitute Adam Lecky crossed the ball to the backpost where Joe Crowe's hooked shot was parried by Morrison and Danny Gibson touched the ball home from close range, though the linesman's flag immediately curtailed the celebrations.
Cliftonville could have extended their lead with little over a quarter of an hour remaining. Luke Conlon headed down Kyle McClelland’s long free-kick and played the ball across the face of goal and just past Brian Healy at the front post.
Stephen Baxter’s side continued to pose a threat. A further long throw dropped in the area and Aidan Steele’s snapshot was wide. Steele curled in an 87th minute free kick that Adam Lecky glanced past the post.
Instead Cliftonville sealed all three points in injury time. Rhyss Campbell had his heels clipped by Kyle Cherry, who was booked.
Dean McMaster stood over the resulting set-piece and expertly whipped the ball over the wall and past Gartside to make it 3-1 and score his second free-kick of the campaign.
There was no further goal-scoring in the remaining minutes as the Reds temporarily moved into second spot ahead of Linfield’s victory over Dungannon Swifts in the evenings late kick-off, however, Jim Magilton’s men finished the weekend in the top three ahead of Tuesday evening's return trip to East Antrim and a clash with Champions Larne.
CARRICK RANGERS: Gartside, Nelson, Forsythe, O’Connor (Lecky 62’), Gibson, Maciulaitis (Hastings 75’), Steele, Buchanan-Rolleston, Crowe, Cherry, Hawthorne (Moore 84’).
CLIFTONVILLE: Morrison, Samuels (Leppard 64’), O’Connor, Hale, Healy (Campbell 75’), McClelland, McMaster, Quinn (Conlon 64’), Bannon, McStravick (Gormley 64’), Sheridan (Thompson 75’).
REFEREE: Declan Hassan
