Cool runnings

For the second game in a row, boss Paddy McLaughlin was left applauding Cliftonville’s composure after the team battled to three points against Ballymena United last night.

Ahead through Ryan Curran’s deft finish, a dominant Reds performance was halted in its tracks when David Jeffrey’s levelled through Jack Henderson before half-time.

As was the case against Carrick Rangers on Saturday, however, McLaughlin was thrilled with how his players kept their cool before eventually being rewarded when Luke Turner stroked in the winner to end Cliftonville’s long run without a victory at The Showgrounds.

“It’s a tough, tough place to come, Ballymena are really strong at home,” said the Manager afterwards.

“Big Davy’s got a really good squad assembled this year and you saw how difficult they are to break down. We had to work really hard and I thought some of the football we played in the first-half was brilliant. In the second-half, we showed the other side to our game where we had to grind it out a bit and the boys in the middle of the park were excellent at winning second balls; the boys at the back were excellent in winning their headers.

“We controlled large parts of the first-half but Ballymena can punish you in the blink of an eye and that’s what happened.

“We had two or three great chances after we took the lead and we’re just willing that second goal to go in but then their goal came out of nowhere.

“It was disappointing but it was similar to Saturday in that we’ve conceded against the run of play but the boys remained composed, they knew what they were doing was right and they kept playing.”