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Our numbers counted: Paddy

Paddy McLaughlin was delighted with the manner of Cliftonville’s victory over Carrick Rangers last night.

Despite playing an hour of the contest a man light following Liam Bagnall’s dismissal, the Reds roared to a deserved 3-1 success courtesy of Conor McMenamin’s hat-trick – and it was no surprise that the man who emerged with the matchball was among those the boss heaped praise on afterwards.

“He’s been a big player for us since the second I walked through the door and he keeps delivering time after time,” said McLaughlin.

“He’s been criticised over the last few weeks because he hasn’t hit the massive heights he was at over Christmas but you need big players to step up and take responsibility and, with that performance, Conor has shown why he’s so important to us and why we rate him as highly as we do.”

Though McMenamin quite rightly took the headlines, the night could not pass without reference to the incredible Richard Brush save that stopped Chris Rodgers drawing the visitors level with just 11 minutes left on the clock.

“I think the whole ground was expecting the ball to hit the back of the net and he’s gone and pulled it out of the top corner at the last second,” added the boss.

“No other keeper in the division makes that save. If that goes in, Carrick probably fancy themselves to go on and win because the momentum would have been on their side but I keep saying Brushy is the best about and he’s been coming up big like that for us all season.

“It’s another example of a big player stepping up and making a big difference for us. We had been on a poor run through January and the only way to fully rebuild confidence is by winning matches and moments like that make such a big difference.”

The one sour note of the evening was the red card Bagnall picked up for a challenge on Kyle Cherry. Frustrated as he was with referee Jamie Robinson’s decision, McLaughlin saw huge positives in his team’s response to that setback.

“The red card is harsh,” he insisted. “Liam being Liam, he is competitive and combative and he’s trying to win the ball back. I don’t think there was any malice, there was no lashing out or anything like that.

“After that, we could have tried to hold on to the 1-0 lead or maybe even felt sorry for ourselves and criticised a poor refereeing decision to send Liam off, but we stayed positive and tried to add to our lead, which we did before half-time.

“It was a win that said a lot about our character and our fitness levels, too. We played an hour of that game with 10 men and the boys put a hell of a shift in with absolutely no signs of tiredness, even towards the end.

“It was a tough ask after the red card because Carrick are a good team full of their own hard workers and we knew everyone in a red shirt would have to step up and try to cover the difference in numbers and nobody shirked away from that responsibility.”