Toals County Antrim Shield Final
Carrick Rangers 1
Cliftonville 1
(Carrick Rangers win 4-2 on penalties)
EIGHT months after their Irish Cup final shoot-out defeat, Cliftonville experienced that feeling of disappointment again when they were beaten 4-2 on penalties by Carrick Rangers in Tuesday evening's Toals County Antrim Shield Final at Seaview.
The evening had started positively for Jim Magilton’s charges when Ryan Curran struck within three minutes but Adam Lecky squared things up with 10-minutes left and neither side could force a late winner as the final would be decided from the spot.
Ryan Curran blazed the first penalty over and despite Jonny Addis and Rory Hale converting, Carrick’s first three were perfect as Jimmy Callacher, Luke McCullough and Danny Gibson were all spot on.
Scott Pengelly put his side on the brink when he saved from Liam McStravick and Aidan Steele made no mistake, confidently dispatching past Peter Morrison to seal his side's first Shield success since 1993.
Reds boss Jim Magilton was of full of praise for Carrick for their half-time switch that saw them nullify his side and set them on the front foot in the second period.
“Obviously, we got off to a fantastic start and it was always going to be really difficult because they have a really unique way of playing,” he reflected.
“When you go in at 1-0, you talk about starting quickly in the second half but we couldn’t get it out of our own area and that was credit to them.
“The change helped them and affected the game and we didn’t pass the ball, and if you don’t pass the ball against this team then you’re going to get in trouble.
“We didn’t stop enough crosses, and there was a certain inevitability about the goal. When it gets to penalties it is a lottery. You have to credit Carrick, you have to credit the manager and his staff. He made changes at half-time that ultimately won the game”.
Magilton rang the changes in response to Cliftonville's 4-1 weekend defeat to their final opponents. There was a debut for Aidan Kelly on his return to the club where he started his youth career and the experienced trio of Jonny Addis, Rory Hale and Joe Gormley came back in alongside Reece Jordan and Joseph Toole.
Cliftonville made a terrific start and hit the front inside of three minutes at Seaview. A long Jonny Addis pass forward was held up by Joe Gormley and his lay-off found Ryan Curran whose low shot whistled low past Scott Pengelly and into the bottom corner to make it 1-0.
Carrick celebrate their shootout victory
Peter Morrison came out to collect a Paul Heatley cross and Benjamin Buchanan-Rolleston nodded behind from Billy Joe Burn’s cross in an opening half that didn’t spark until the final quarter of an hour.
The Reds almost doubled their lead when Gormley lined up a shot in the area that Burns blocked and from the resulting corner, Rory Hale’s delivery was only cleared as far as Addis whose low stinging shot was held by Pengelly.
A robust Joe Crowe challenge on Adebayo Fapetu gave Hale another chance to whip in a dangerous cross and it evaded Shaun Leppard and took a touch off Jimmy Callacher to send the ball behind for a corner.
Hale’s set piece found the head of Leppard and it was inches away from finding the net. At the other end Reece Jordan needed to be alert to thwart a possible Aidan Steele sighting and Peter Morrison then took a low Danny Gibson cross towards the near post as Curran’s goal proved the difference at the interval.
Referee Christopher Morrison had a busy start to the second period, booking Paul Heatley for a challenge on Harry Wilson and then Rory Hale for a retaliatory push on his ex-Crusaders team-mate.
Heatley had the first sighting of the second period, though Wilson blocked his attempt in the area and the danger was scrambled clear.
A Rory Hale pass over the head of Callacher was picked up by Gormley and he skewed wide with Joe Crowe slicing behind from the edge of the area less than 60-seconds later.
Adebayo Fapetu was felled on the edge of the area by Billy Joe Burns and Rory Hale teed the resulting free kick to Joe Gormley whose low shot through the wall was kept out by Scott Pengelly.
Carrick went close to levelling in the 73rd minute when Danny Gibson nodded Burns crossfield ball into the path of substitute Adam Lecky and his shot on the turn was turned behind by Peter Morrison and two corners in the aftermath were eventually helped to safety.
The Reds shot-stopper was called into action again, touching a Danny Gibson angled shot behind for a corner and the pressure told as Rangers restored parity with 10-minutes to play.
A corner from the left was flicked on Luke McCullough and cleared off the line in a congested area, the ball was recycled to Aidan Steele and his cross was swept home by Lecky to make it 1-1.
The East Antrim outfit pushed for a winner with Heatley’s drive held by Morrison, whilst Cliftonville had a chance to win it of their own when Ryan Curran’s cross fell to substitute Liam McStravick but he scooped over as the decider would be settled by a shoot-out.
Penalties:
Cliftonville were first and goal scorer Ryan Curran blazed his effort over the bar and Jimmy Callacher made no mistake from his as Carrick held the early advantage.Jonny Addis and Rory Hale both scored as did Luke McCullough and Danny Gibson. Rangers were on the brink when Scott Pengelly saved from Liam McStravick and that allowed Aidan Steele to secure victory with his side's fourth attempt that hit the net to spark scenes of jubilation behind the goal as the Amber Army celebrated their first senior success in 33-years.
CARRICK RANGERS: Pengelly, Place, Burns, Callacher, Gibson, McCullough, Steele, Buchanan-Rolleston, Crowe, Heatley, Snoddy (Lecky 46’).
CLIFTONVILLE: Morrison, Addis, Leppard, Kelly, Toole, Wilson. Hale, Fapetu (McStravick 83’), Jordan, Curran, Gormley (Pepper 76’).
REFEREE: Christopher Morrison
