Upsetting the scene

Jim Magilton says he could detect a degree of “upset” among his players despite Cliftonville putting three unanswered goals past Ballymena United yesterday.

After sending the Reds on their way with a first-half penalty, Ronan Hale’s second of the afternoon made it 2-0 ahead of Ronan Doherty curling in the standout goal of a game in which the hosts never fully found their rhythm.

“It keeps us on that forward momentum and it’s very important for us to win games,” said Magilton.

“I’m delighted with the result but it was a bit of a stop-start performance. These lads have set standards, very high standards, and when we drop below them, we get upset and they get upset – and that’s a good thing. We’ve come this far into the season and we know we can play better, but it was really important to win the game.

“We just weren’t at our fluid best and we didn’t create as many opportunities as we have done, but there’s two teams and we have to credit Ballymena because they played well, gave us problems and they stopped that fluidity.”

On the goalscorers, the Manager added: “Ronan Hale is goal hungry. Once he gets a sight of goal, there’s only one thing on his mind and he’s desperate to score goals. He’s done great for us and we’re delighted with him and we hope it continues.

“Then we had a great strike in what was probably an indifferent afternoon for Olly but, again, the quality and standards of his performances have been so high and so good.”

Pleased to have won despite Cliftonville not being at their best, Magilton continued: “We’re going to have little dips. It’s important when we have that dip that we see out games and we saw out the game today. On another day, we’ll play better and maybe not win 3-0, but winning 3-0 at home is important for us and it’s important we keep building on the momentum.”