Benchmark contribution

Jim Magilton has much to be pleased about after seeing Cliftonville book their place in the quarter-finals of the Clearer Water Irish Cup with yesterday’s 4-0 victory over Loughgall.

Ahead at the break courtesy of a Joe Gormley strike, the Reds doubled their advantage when Pablo Andrade turned a Ronan Hale effort into his own net before Rory Hale made it 3-0, with Ronan rounding things off late on.

As happy as he was with the win and the clean sheet, the boss had words of praise for his substitutes who, though introduced when the tie was as good as over, made clear their intent not to simply allow the game to peter out.

“They were brilliant, absolutely brilliant,” said Magilton of the contributions from Chris Curran, Sam Ashford, Conor Pepper, Kris Lowe and Luke Kenny.

“You can’t praise them enough. They all want to play, which is very important. They all want to play in this team and for a Manager and a staff standing there, to know that these lads have come on and actually raised the tempo and raised even more quality in our team is fantastic.

“We’ve a big game on Tuesday night and it’s going to be a difficult one for me in terms of the team and who sits on the bench, but they know that we’re all in it together. It’s a long season for us and everybody will contribute along the way.”

On the game overall he reflected: “Loughgall posed us a lot of problems, first-half especially.

“They set up really well and frustrated us through how well they played. It was the same in the League here, and that was no surprise to us because they’ve got a really good Manager and a really good coaching staff who obviously tactically set themselves up to pose problems, and they did.

“We couldn’t wait for half-time to come so we could rejig things – especially in midfield, where I just thought we were getting a little bit over-run. In the end, our attacking options came to the fore.”

The win set up a quarter-final trip to Portadown next month and, on the prospect of facing the Championship promotion-chasers who have already overcome top flight representatives Crusaders, Glenavon, Dungannon Swifts, Carrick Rangers and indeed Loughgall this term, Magilton added: “It’s a tough one, but it’s a great draw for everybody. I’m sure it will be a great game and a great occasion, we’re just pleased to have got through this one.”