Sept and match

Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Ballymena United meant Cliftonville started and finished September on a losing note but, having won the three games in between, who do you think was the team’s best player in their last five outings?

The month began with an unfortunate 1-0 reverse against Linfield when, despite dominating proceedings throughout the second-half, the Reds were unable to claim the point their efforts deserved ahead of a 4-0 victory over Knockbreda in the County Antrim Shield, when strikes from Joe Gormley, Conor McMenamin and an own goal had the hosts comfortably in front before debutant Calvin McCurry completed the scoring just seconds after emerging from the bench.

A few days later, another 4-0 win saw Gormley bag a double in addition to conversions from Garry Breen and Ryan Curran as Dungannon Swifts were overcome at Stangmore Park, while a Ruaidhri Donnelly header was sufficient to see off Institute as Cliftonville registered a third consecutive clean sheet.

Donnelly was on target again this weekend when he put the Reds in front against Ballymena on a day when, after running the show for the first 45 minutes, the visitors paid the price for failing to hit the same heights after the interval.

To cast your Sean Graham Player of the Month vote, simply open the grid below and choose an option before our poll closes at 7.45pm on Friday, with the result set to be unveiled early next week.