Derby delight for Under 15s

Cliftonville Under 15 Girls savoured a dramatic North Belfast Derby victory when they roared back from 2-0 down against Crusaders.

Both teams spurned some early opportunities to make the breakthrough before the Crues registered two quickfire strikes just before the interval to ensure they held a commanding lead at the turnaround.

The Reds regrouped, however, and emerged for the second-half with a new-found energy that was rewarded on 55 minutes when the game’s star player Erin Montgomery unleashed an unstoppable strike to reduce the arrears.

Caitlin Magill almost bagged the equaliser, only to see her free-kick come crashing off the crossbar, but she made no mistake soon later with a cool chip over the Crusaders keeper to make it 2-2.

The turnaround was sealed almost immediately when Chloe Davis handed Cliftonville an advantage they held until the final whistle.

Elsewhere this weekend, the Reds’ Under 13 Girls suffered an unfortunate defeat to Banbridge Town, while our Under 11s and Under 9s produced fine performances in their entertaining contests with Rosario and St James, respectively.