Ronan’s extra tricky

Coleraine 0-3 Cliftonville [After Extra-Time]

Ronan Hale struck an extra-time hat-trick to help Cliftonville power to victory in another typically full-blooded Irish Cup clash with Coleraine.

After an uninspiring first-half, the Reds looked the more threatening after the break but the dismissal of substitute Sam Ashford threatened their chances of progressing to the sixth round.

The home side’s man advantage was cancelled out in injury-time when captain Lyndon Kane picked up a second yellow card and Cliftonville made them pay during the additional 30 minutes thanks to Hale’s sensational treble.

After opening the scoring from long range in the first period of extra-time, he seized upon defensive hesitancy to make it 2-0 in the closing stages before racing through to produce an ice-cool finish for his third to leave the travelling Red Army in raptures at the end of a memorable night at The Showgrounds.

Full report to follow…