Oval and Donn with

Glentoran 0-2 Cliftonville

Two Rory Donnelly goals were the reward for a professional Cliftonville performance as the Reds made it six wins on the spin by overcoming Glentoran at The Oval this afternoon.

The visitors took the lead on 29 minutes when Donnelly steamed in to power home a header from Joe Gormley’s exquisite cross and the victory was sealed with eight minutes left on the clock; Donnelly coolly passing the ball into the back of the net after some good work by Stephen Garrett in the build-up.

While Cliftonville had been in control of proceedings from virtually the start, there was little by way of goalmouth action – save for a Jay Donnelly drive that home goalkeeper Elliott Morris was always going to deal with – until Donnelly’s close-range header after Gormley had picked his strike partner out with a delightful outside-of-the-boot delivery from the left.

Levi Ives forced Morris into a save after being teed up by Garry Breen while, after the interval, the Reds once again remained on top without driving home their advantage until the closing stages when good work in the centre of the park from Daniel Hughes sent Garrett surging forward and, despite the close attentions of a Glentoran defender, he teed up Donnelly for a cool finish to make safe the points.

Cliftonville: Neeson, McGovern, Ives, Breen, Harney, Curran, Bagnall, Winchester, Gormley, J Donnelly, R Donnell. Subs: Long, Hughes (Winchester, 72 mins), Garrett (J Donnelly, 63 mins), M Donnelly, Lavery (McGovern, 53 mins).

Half Gate Draw Number: 68611