Ror wounds

Glentoran 0-1 Cliftonville

Rory Hale grabbed the only goal of the game as Cliftonville got the better of Glentoran in this evening’s Danske Bank Premiership clash at The Oval.

Hale pounced in the opening minutes of the second-half when he seized upon an exquisite assist from Ryan Curran and slotted beyond goalkeeper Aaron McCarey from close range.

The Reds should have had a penalty when Curran saw a strike blocked by Bobby Burns’ arm but it didn’t matter in the end as one goal proved enough for the visitors.

Things might have been different had Cliftonville not survived an early scare when Luke Turner’s backpass appeared to hold up in the breeze and goalkeeper Luke McNicholas had to be alert to reach the ball before Seanan Clucas could pounce.

Caolan Marron’s touch then prevented Ryan Curran from connecting with a Jamie McDonagh corner and Ronan Doherty dragged an attempt wide before McDonagh was off target with a shot of his own.

On the half-hour mark, a heavy touch from Doherty allowed Rhys Marshall to recover just when the Reds looked poised to make the breakthrough and, at the other end, ex-Cliftonville forward Conor McMenamin sent a right footed blast across the face of goal.

The opener came five minutes into the second-half when Daniel Kearns did well to keep Luke Turner’s forward pass alive and, though the ball fell favourably for Curran to shoot, he instead dinked it diagonally for the on-rushing Hale to control and finish.

McMenamin headed straight at McNicholas as the Glens went in search of a quick leveller, while McCarey was called into action to deal with a tricky attempt from McDonagh.

McDonagh was denied again when he got on the end of Kris Lowe’s cross and then, after a sensational surge down the left by Levi Ives, Curran executed a shot that was charged down by Burns’ hand, with the officials deaf to visiting claims for a penalty.

In the final 10 minutes, Jay Donnelly had two attempts to restore parity but sent one wide before bringing a routine stop out of McNicholas, with Glentoran’s final chance to rescue a point coming and going when Burns directed an effort off target.

Cliftonville: McNicholas, Ives, Hale (Gormley, 65 mins), R Curran, McDonagh (C Curran, 84 mins), Lowe, Addis (Coates, 59 mins), Doherty (Donnelly, 84 mins), Turner, Gallagher, Kearns. Unused subs: McKenna, McDermott, O’Neill.