City haul

Cliftonville 4-1 Newry City

A Michael McCrudden double alongside strikes from substitutes Joe Gormley and Stephen McGuinness saw Cliftonville continue their pre-season preparations with a 4-1 victory over Newry City this afternoon.

Despite looking the more likely to break the deadlock at Solitude – where McCrudden appeared the hosts’ liveliest threat – the Reds fell behind when Mark Kelly took advantage of some indecision in the Cliftonville defence.

Newry’s lead wouldn’t last long, though, as McCrudden sprung the offside trap to slip the ball between the legs of goalkeeper Mark Byrne.

McCrudden sent an effort against the woodwork early in the second-half and also laid the groundwork for an effort that Levi Ives sent just wide of the post.

Cliftonville’s pressure would eventually yield a second goal when Gormley’s awkwardly-executed shot took a horrible bounce and spin that completely deceived the unfortunate Byrne.

It was 3-1 soon later when McCrudden got the final touch after the Reds had applied some goalmouth pressure to a City team trying to clear their lines, while McGuinness would have the final say when he was afforded plenty of time and space inside the box following a corner and he made no mistake in supplying the finish.