NIFL Premiership
Cliftonville 3
Ballymena 2
Solitude
JACK KEANEY’S injury time free kick saw Cliftonville make it three league wins in a row and leapfrog Ballymena United into the top half of the table after a dramatic and hard fought 3-2 win over the Sky Blues at Solitude on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors had led at the break through a deflected own-goal from Micheál Glynn, but Adebayo Fapetu headed the Reds level early in the second half.
Just before the hour mark an own-goal from Stephen O’Donnell had Cliftonville in front and O’Donnell’s day went from bad to worse when he was wrongly adjudged to have handled the ball on the line by referee Louise Thompson and was sent off despite the honest protestations of his guilty teammate Ben Kennedy.
But Cliftonville were unable to profit, with Gormley blazing the resulting penalty over the bar. The 10 men looked to have snatched a gritty point through Aaron Jarvis’s late equalising header, but three minutes into added time Keaney sent Solitude into a frenzy and ensured that the hosts would make it three league wins on the spin and inflicted a third straight league on the North Antrim outfit.
Joe Gormley celebrates with Sean Robertson after he put the Reds 2-1 to the good
Despite the late euphoria, Reds boss Jim Magilton was realistic about what he'd just witnessed in a chaotic encounter in North Belfast. He was unhappy with aspects of his side's play and in particular rued their decision-making in the aftermath of being handed that numerical advantage.
“It was a mad 90 minutes,” said Magilton.
“We started quite brightly and then we conceded a poor goal, we turned the ball over again and then obviously it’s a deflection. Ballymena came with a game plan, and it was working perfectly for them. We just didn’t show enough tempo or quality in our play although that three wins would suggest otherwise.
“We went into our shell a little bit and didn’t open up as much as I thought we should have. We needed half time. We got a little bit of an injection of pace when we made the substitutions and we felt we had to do that early. We got our just rewards and then we should have completely managed the game."
For Magilton, frequent surrender of possession was the most frustrating part of the Reds' performance.
“We made really poor decisions today. We turned the ball over too many times for a team of that quality. We always talk about train as you play, play as you train. We were nowhere near the levels today, but managed to get three points."
Magilton made just one change from the side that began last weekend's 2-1 statement win against in-form Carrick Rangers as Adebayo Fapetu came in and Shea Gordon dropped to the bench.
In a bright and encouraging start, the Reds almost hit the front inside of 60 seconds when Rory Hale laltched on to a fine Jonny Addis pass. Hale tried to round keeper Sean O’Neill, but a last-gasp Stephen O’Donnell challenge snuffed out the danger at the expense of a corner.
Ballymena began to find their feet after a quarter of an hour when Patrick McEleney crossed and Jack O’Reilly’s header was just too high to trouble Lewis Ridd.
Stephen O'Donnell was sent off for Ballymena after a controversial second yellow
The deadlock was broken after 28 minutes at Solitude, somewhat against the run of play, as the Sky Blues took the lead.
After a bit of pinball in midfield, early United substitute James Hood was able to slip a pass to Success Edogun who charged with purpose down the right channel. His attempted cross into the box deflected off the foot of Micheál Glynn and looped over the head of Lewis Ridd and into the net to make it 0-1.
The visitors almost doubled their lead a few minutes later as Cliftonville struggled to come to terms with their bad luck. After a smart and quickly taken free-kick, Cliftonville youth product Calvin McCurry curled in a cracking cross that begged to be put in the net, but no takers were on hand.
Kym Nelson headed over from a perfectly weighted Ben Kennedy free kick in the aftermath as an increasingly confident Ballymena continued to threaten, but at the break Glynn’s own goal remained the difference.
Cliftonville upped the ante on the restart and a committed and determined spell of early play saw them level within five minutes. Jack Keaney clipped in a perfect cross from the right and Adebayo Fapetu climbed above James Hood and headed past O’Neill to restore parity.
Smelling blood, the home side should have hit the front when Rory Hale slipped in substitute Shea Gordon whose low shot deflected off Daithi McCallion and on to the base of the post.
But the reinvigorated Reds weren't to be denied and a minute shy of the hour mark, they completed the turnaround. Conor Pepper found the overlapping run of the Reds newest recruit Sean Robertson, who made an immediate impact from the bench, sending in an inviting cross that a desperate O’Donnell diverted into his own net in his attempt to clear the danger.
Midway through the second half Solitude was engulfed in a crazy explosion of controversy and confusion. Micheál Glynn and Rory Hale worked a clever short corner, with Hale dropping a dangerous cross towards Jonny Addis at the back post. Addis was prevented from heading home by a Ben Kennedy handball, and referee Louise Thompson had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
However, the official wrongly adjudged the blameless Stephen O’Donnell to be the guilty man and issued the centre back with a second yellow card and subsequent red. The United players were incensed but Thompson stuck by her decision after consultation with the linesman.
The lengthy delay did no favours to Joe Gormley, who blazed the spot kick over the bar.
The 10 men weren't deterred, however, and took the game to Cliftonville. Ben Kennedy’s corner was glanced wide by Daithi McCallion, while at the other end Shea Gordon had a shot deflected behind after good work from Eric McWoods.
With five minutes remaining and an increasingly nervous home side looking content to settle for a one-goal win, Ballymena hit back and levelled the game. Kennedy's dangerous delivery was attacked with great aggression and determination by Aaron Jarvis and his header found its way to the net to make it 2-2. Cue groans from the home fans – and despair from the bench.
But that was not to be the only late drama as it was Ballymena's turn to hold out for the final whistle. Three minutes into the five added, James Hood chopped down Sean Robertson and a free kick was awarded.
Micheál Glynn and Jack Keaney discussed the resulting free kick, before centre half Keaney stepped forward to curled the ball low past the wall to squirm past a despairing O'Neill.
The Sky Blues pushed for a further leveller in the closing stages of injury time and given what had gone before the tension at Solitude was palpable. But the Reds held out to leapfrog Ballymena into the top half of the table after a dramatic afternoon in North Belfast.
CLIFTONVILLE: Ridd, Casey, Addis, Keaney, Pepper, Wilson (Gordon 54’), Fapetu (Sheridan 81’), Hale (Curran 81’), Glynn, Bermingham (Robertson 54’), Gormley (McWoods 81’).
BALLYMENA UNITED: O’Neill, Nelson (McCallion 45’), Toure, Jarvis, Kennedy, McEleney (Hood 20’), O’Donnell, Clarke, O’Reilly (Lafferty 74’), McCurry (Thompson 74’), Edogun.
REFEREE: Louise Thompson
