Present and correct for Doherty

Cliftonville 1-0 Linfield

Birthday boy Ronan Doherty bagged the only goal of the game as Cliftonville got the better of Linfield amid a thunderous atmosphere at Solitude.

The 27-year-old stroked in a right footed effort with 11 minutes on the clock as the Reds maintained their fine start to 2023 courtesy of a long overdue victory over the Blues.

Making their intentions clear from early on, the hosts threatened through an effort from Ronan Hale before the former Larne man played an instrumental role in the contest’s decisive moment; receiving a pass from Sean Moore before touching possession into the stride of Doherty, who did the rest to ensure a memorable return from his 150th appearance for the Club.

It should have been 2-0 soon later but Jonny Addis was only able to find the side netting with a header following a scramble inside the six-yard box before Chris Gallagher’s low drive was comfortably gathered by Chris Johns.

Linfield saw penalty appeals waved away when Joel Cooper took to ground when challenging for the ball with Levi Ives before going close through a Daniel Finlayson effort that crept just wide.

Cliftonville should have had a spot-kick of their own when Doherty was chopped down in the box on the stroke of half-time but, again, referee Tim Marshall was unmoved.

After the break, a fierce Cooper strike was turned behind by Nathan Gartside and, from the resulting corner, Finlayson’s header was cleared off the line by Gallagher.

Goalkeeper Johns was quickly out of his area to stop Moore from seizing on Hale’s throughball and then grasped a Joe Gormley effort before Cooper again went close, only to see his effort touched behind by a timely block from Luke Turner.

The final chance of the night also fell Cooper’s way but his volley from a narrow angle was well dealt with by Gartside before Cliftonville saw out the remainder of the game to pocket full points.

Cliftonville: Gartside, Ives, Addis (McDonagh, 61 mins), Gallagher, Rory Hale (Coates, 83 mins), Lowe, R Doherty (Casey, 83 mins), Gormley (C Curran, 78 mins), Turner, Ronan Hale, Moore. Unused subs: G Doherty, R Curran, Robinson.