Battle of Wil

Tomorrow may represent just Cliftonville’s third ever away fixture against Dundela, but the Samuel Gelston’s Whiskey Irish Cup fifth round tie actually marks the Reds’ first visit to Wilgar Park.

Ten of the sides’ 12 meetings to date have taken place at Solitude, with Grosvenor Park hosting the team’s inaugural clash ahead of the Clubs locking horns at Seaview in the County Antrim Shield eight years later.

Though the east Belfast outfit was not established until 1895, Cliftonville’s Heritage Development Officer Paul Treanor notes that the Reds recorded a 4-0 win over a ‘Dundela FC’ in an 1890 friendly – the result of which has been excluded from the official review below.

A Club with a proud history, there’s no doubting the Duns’ finest hour came when they lifted the Irish Cup following a 3-0 victory over Glenavon in the 1955 Final at Windsor Park, little more than a month after they had overcome the Reds at the quarter-final stage.

Cliftonville’s record v Dundela
Played: 12
Won: 6
Drawn: 3
Lost: 3
Scored: 27
Conceded: 15

Cliftonville proved a tougher but to crack next time round, though, with two County Antrim Shield ties failing to yield a winner at Solitude before Dundela came out on top in a decisive third contest on the Shore Road.

The Reds’ first win over the men from the Hen Run came in the same competition a full decade later, with the Shield also providing the stage for Dundela to claim a 1-0 victory at Solitude in 1985.

After an Ulster Cup tie two years later failed to produce a goal, the Clubs’ only prior meeting in the fifth round of the Irish Cup commenced a five-match winning sequence that Cliftonville will bid to extend tomorrow.

A 2-1 success in 1991 was followed up by a 4-1 triumph just over a year later, while the only hat-tricks in the fixture’s history were – inevitably – scored by Joe Gormley, who netted three times in a 2013 League Cup tie and scored four when the teams convened for a Shield battle in 2020.

In between times, the Reds were 2-1 victors in a 2015 League Cup encounter perhaps best remembered for Martin Murray’s own goal from fully 40 yards.

Meetings through history
March 5, 1955
Irish Cup second round
Dundela 1-0 Cliftonville

March 27, 1963
County Antrim Shield first round
Cliftonville 4-4 Dundela

April 4, 1963
County Antrim Shield first round replay
Cliftonville 1-1 Dundela

April 11, 1963
County Antrim Shield first round second replay
Dundela 2-0 Cliftonville

April 3, 1973
County Antrim Shield quarter-final
Cliftonville 2-1 Dundela

August 26, 1985
County Antrim Shield first round
Cliftonville 0-1 Dundela

August 22, 1987
Ulster Cup first round
Cliftonville 0-0 Dundela

January 19, 1991
Irish Cup fifth round
Cliftonville 2-1 Dundela

March 17, 1992
League Cup quarter-final
Cliftonville 4-1 Dundela

October 8, 2013
League Cup third round
Cliftonville 5-0 Dundela

September 2, 2015
League Cup second round
Cliftonville 2-1 Dundela

October 13, 2020
County Antrim Shield quarter-final
Cliftonville 7-2 Dundela