Euro stars suffer debut defeat

Benfica 8-1 Cliftonville Ladies

Cliftonville Ladies suffered defeat against a classy Benfica side in this evening’s Women’s Champions League clash in Seixal.

In what was the Reds’ first ever European outing, John McGrady’s side started brightly and restricted their hosts to miminal chances but, slowly but surely, the Portuguese giants began to exert control over proceedings before going on to register a convincing success on a night that saw Caitlin McGuinness claim the distinction of scoring the team’s maiden goal on the continental stage.

Cliftonville will complete their Group 6 commitments when they face BIIK Kazygurt of Kazakhstan on Saturday.

Full report to follow…