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Portadown 1-2 Cliftonville

Early goals from Ronan Hale and Ryan Curran put Cliftonville on course for victory over Portadown in this afternoon’s Danske Bank Premiership clash.

There were just three minutes on the clock at Shamrock Park when Hale curled a delightful effort into the bottom corner, with Curran making it 2-0 when he took advantage of a goalkeeping error on 25 minutes.

Though Jordan Jenkins pulled one back for the hosts almost immediately and Chris Gallagher was forced into a goal-line clearance before the interval, the Reds were in the ascendancy in the second-half and saw a number of opportunities to extend their advantage go to waste before the final whistle sounded.

Hale’s inch-perfect finish from the edge of the area got the visitors off to the perfect start, while brother Rory and namesake Doherty were next to threaten amid a lively opening period from a Cliftonville perspective.

Both Hales came close to making it 2-0 with three opportunities inside two minutes. First Ronan was denied by Jethren Barr after seizing on a fortunate ricochet, then Rory headed straight at the keeper from a corner before Ronan’s bid to race onto a ball from goalkeeper Nathan Gartside was thwarted by the home custodian.

It would not be long, however, before that second goal came when Barr’s failure to keep hold of a Jamie McDonagh corner delivery allowed Curran to turn and finish in a crowded penalty area.

Virtually straight away, though, Jenkins produced a neat finish from a well-taken pass over the top and Portadown might have equalised when Katlego Mashigo challenged Gartside and the ball was worked towards Leo Donnellan, whose underhit effort was cleared off the line by Chris Gallagher.

The first-half ended with a curling right-footed strike from Luke Turner coming back off the crossbar, while the second started with Rory Hale flashing a low drive into the side netting from the edge of the box.

Barr then made stops from Curran and both Hales and, after Oisin Conaty had headed wide at the other end, the Ports keeper was quickly out to stop Sean Moore from getting on the end of a pass from fellow sub Joe Gormley.

Curran then saw a close-range attempt well blocked by Paddy McNally and Tumelo Tlou likewise got his timing right just when Moore looked set to make it 3-1 before Gormley twice went close; first kept at bay by Barr before lashing a second chance wide as the Reds were ultimately forced to settle for the narrowest margin of victory.

Cliftonville: Gartside, Addis, Gallagher (Gormley, 59 mins), C Curran, Rory Hale (Coates, 85 mins), R Curran, McDonagh (Moore, 59 mins), Lowe, Doherty, Turner, Ronan Hale (Casey, 88 mins). Unused subs: Talley, Robinson, Traynor.