Well taken Curr of

Dungannon Swifts 0-2 Cliftonville

Ryan Curran struck in either half to earn Cliftonville a 2-0 win over Dungannon Swifts at Stangmore Park this afternoon.

Having already been denied when an unconventional stop from goalkeeper Declan Dunne saw the ball spin inches wide of the post, Curran made the breakthrough in similarly unorthodox style when his seemingly underhit shot took enough of a nick off recovering defender John Scott to help it creep into the bottom corner.

A well-timed header from a Luke Turner delivery made sure of all three points which, despite the Swifts twice striking the woodwork in the closing minutes, were never really in doubt from that stage.

Cliftonville started brightly and almost had a dream opening when Kris Lowe teed Ronan Hale up, only for his effort to be deflected behind.

After a flying save from Nathan Gartside had denied Joe McCready at the other end, Dunne used his legs to send a Curran attempt just past the post before getting across to repel a Ronan Hale blast.

The breakthrough finally came when Lowe’s attempt to pick out Ronan Doherty inside the box ended with possession falling to Curran, whose shot appeared to have the sting taken out of it by Scott only for that very intervention to catch Dunne out as the ball sneaked in.

Curran was then off target with a left-footed effort from the edge of the box before Ronan Hale rattled the crossbar from similar range, while brother Rory got his angles wrong when another Lowe delivery picked him out for a header.

The Reds had to absorb some pressure early in the second-half and saw Joe Gormley kept at bay by Dunne before Curran made it 2-0 when he met Turner’s ball into the box.

Though Mayowa Animasahun nodded against the bar and Ben Gallagher saw a shot come back off the inside of a post in the final exchanges, Cliftonville were good value for their first win following back to back Premiership draws.

Cliftonville: Gartside, Addis, Gallagher, Rory Hale, R Curran, Lowe, Robinson, Doherty, Gormley (McDonagh, 74 mins), Turner, Ronan Hale (Moore, 74 mins). Unused subs: Talley, C Curran, Storey, Coates, McGuinness.