Case for the defence

For all the plaudits Cliftonville have earned for their eye-catching football this season, Paddy McLaughlin declared himself delighted with the defensive mettle they showed in overcoming Coleraine last night.

The Reds hit back to book a Samuel Gelston’s Whiskey Irish Cup semi-final spot after Lyndon Kane’s strike had broken the deadlock at Solitude.

Joe Gormley levelled with his first touch after emerging from the bench and, having supplied the assist for that goal, Jamie McDonagh duly took centre stage himself with the latest eye-catching addition to his repertoire.

Though both scorers came in for praise from the Manager, McLaughlin admitted to a sense of relief after seeing his players stand tall in the face of a significant Coleraine onslaught as the clock ticked down.

“For the last 10 minutes, I felt like I was heading and kicking every ball on the pitch,” he said.

“Coleraine threw everything bar the kitchen sink at us and we had to work extremely hard defensively. I thought we defended brilliantly with a few heroic blocks and big headers in there, landing second balls and clearing the danger.

“It was a real tough, tough game and we knew that was going to be the case. They’re a really, really good side and they showed that in the game, they were excellent throughout the match.

“I’m just delighted with how well we defended. I thought we marshalled our back four really well and we landed a lot of second balls in and around the middle of the park and it was important we did that because we knew that if we didn’t, Coleraine would have scored.”

Quizzed on the managerial inspiration that saw Gormley level matters just moments after stepping on to the pitch, McLaughlin added: “Sometimes you get lucky but there’s no shock or surprise that Joe comes on and scores, he’s got that in him. If you blink, he scores. If you lose sight of him for a second, he can punish you. I don’t know if I’d be taking too much credit for it because it was an obvious sub and, when myself and the backroom staff spoke about it just before it happened, we were all sure that Joe was the man to go in and get us a goal.”

On matchwinner McDonagh, the boss concluded: “Jamie’s one of them players that you expect something special to happen every time he gets on the ball and, nine times out of 10, he produces. He’s done it for the equaliser and he’s done it for the winner. When he’s lining up a cross or a strike from distance, you’re expecting something special to happen and he’s got the magic that can do that, he’s done it all season for us.

“When he’s in that kind of form, he’s one of the top players in the division.”