New start

Cliftonville 2-0 Newington

Second-half goals from Conor Scannell and Ryan Curran earned Cliftonville a 2-0 win over Newington at a sunny Solitude this afternoon.

With supporters attending a fixture at the ground for the first time in 30 weeks, the Reds almost got off to the perfect start only for Levi Ives’ powerful effort to smash against the inside of the post.

Joe Gormley, Michael McCrudden and Ryan O’Reilly all went close for Cliftonville in the opening exchanges but it wasn’t until after the interval that the deadlock was broken; substitute Scannell volleying home with his first touch after McCrudden had charged down an attempted clearance from goalkeeper Declan Breen, the Reds goalkeeper who was guesting for the Ton.

Ives went close with a left-footed drive and the alert Breen was quick off his line to thwart both Chris and Ryan Curran before the latter doubled the Reds’ lead with a close-range conversion of a cross from his namesake.