Starter’s orders

Cliftonville 2-0 Newry City

Cliftonville began their pre-season programme with a 2-0 victory over Newry City in this afternoon’s friendly.

Levi Ives and Joe Gormley were on target at Cliftonville Playing Fields, where Ryan Curran passed up the opportunity to join them on the scoresheet when he skied a first-half penalty.

Gormley went close to breaking the deadlock with an audacious seventh-minute chip of City goalkeeper Stephen Maguire, who scrambled back in time to stop the ball sailing over his head and into the net.

He was beaten 60 seconds later, however, when Ives exchanged passes with Gormley inside the box and, from a tricky-looking angle, struck a left-footed shot low into the far corner.

Aaron Donnelly shot over the bar and Kris Lowe saw a couple of threatening crosses cut out before a foul on Ives earned Cliftonville a 25th minute penalty, only for Curran to lift his spot-kick over the top.

A raking pass from Odhran Casey put Gormley in behind but the alert Maguire was quickly off his line to charge down the shot, while the striker was unfortunate to see a fierce blast whistle over early in the second-half.

Conor Scannell shot straight at Maguire, who then did well to stop Ronan Doherty getting on the end of a Gormley pass before Chris Curran saw an attempt charged down.

The Reds eventually doubled their lead on 66 minutes when, just as they had done for the opener, Ives and Gormley teamed up with a neat exchange of passes inside the box, with Gormley this time applying the finish.

Doherty curled a strike wide and Hale shot off target before the alert Maguire stepped out to prevent Seanna Foster from getting on the end of his own clip forward as Cliftonville enjoyed a deserved win in a testing run-out.

Cliftonville: Dunne, Ives, Addis, Doherty, Hale, R Curran, Kearns, Donnely, Casey, Lowe, Gormley. Subs: D Breen (Dunne, 68 mins), Foster (Lowe, 46 mins), C Curran (Hale, 46 mins), Scannell (R Curran, 46 mins), Lowe (Addis, 59 mins), Hale (Kearns, 59 mins), R Curran (Donnelly, 59 mins), Kearns (Gormley, 73 mins).