Monday Monthly: April

A day ahead of Cliftonville’s pre-season friendly with Finn Harps, cliftonvillefc.net brings the closing chapter of a weekly mini-series reflecting on the good, the bad and the in-betweens of the 2022/23 term.

Every Monday throughout the summer, we’ve been taking a chronological look back on a month from the the year just finished – with April taking centre stage today.

Though the precise make-up of the Premiership’s post-split schedule can by its very nature be difficult to predict, there would have been few prizes for guessing that Cliftonville would kick things off against Coleraine at Solitude – and even fewer for forecasting the final score.

For the fourth consecutive time, the Reds and Bannsiders played out a 2-2 draw in BT14; the away side twice taking the lead only to be pegged back by Ronan Hale, who netted from distance in the closing stages of the first-half before a deflected injury-time free-kick rescued a point at the death.

There were no such dramatics in Cliftonville’s next two outings, though, as Larne battled to a 2-0 victory on a rain-soaked evening in north Belfast before a trip to the east saw Glentoran record as comfortable a 3-0 win as you’re likely to see.

The departure of Manager Paddy McLaughlin saw Declan O’Hara step into the breach ahead of a Derby duel with Crusaders – one which delivered a disastrous beginning and end amid a rollercoaster ride of emotions in between.

Less than 30 seconds had elapsed by the time Paul Heatley nodded the visitors in front and, though they had to wait, the Reds were rewarded for their reaction as both the Hale brothers netted in a whirlwind start to the second period.

An outrageous leveller from Jarlath O’Rourke threatened to take the wind out of home sails, only for Joe Gormley to rattle in a strike that was later voted Goal of the Season by Cliftonville fans.

A deserved win was, however, snatched from the team’s grasp when Heatley pounced for a last-gasp equaliser before the curtain came down on the Reds’ Premiership programme with a low-key 2-0 reverse at home to Linfield.

Interim boss O’Hara had named his line-up for that afternoon with one eye on the impending European Play-Offs and his decision was vindicated when Cliftonville managed to avoid drawing 2-2 with Coleraine in a typically manic semi-final tie.

A fierce drive from Ryan Curran broke the deadlock before Ronan Doherty struck to double the hosts’ advantage and, though the Bannsiders halved the deficit after the break, there was to be no repeat of the sides’ all-too-familiar scoreline as the Reds progressed to a decisive showdown with Glentoran.

Unfortunately, however, the contest at The Oval bore many of the hallmarks of the team’s previous visit, with the Glens taking a firm control of things in the first-half and comfortably seeing things out after the break as the curtain came down on a demanding campaign ahead of what promised to be a summer of change…

April 2023
Cliftonville 2-2 Coleraine
Ronan Hale [2]

Cliftonville 0-2 Larne

Glentoran 3-0 Cliftonville

Cliftonville 3-3 Crusaders
Ronan Hale, Rory Hale, Gormley

Cliftonville 0-2 Linfield

May 2023
Cliftonville 2-1 Coleraine
R Curran, Doherty

Glentoran 2-0 Cliftonville