Burn marks
Coleraine 2-2 Cliftonville
Paddy Burns opened his goal account as Cliftonville began their post-split programme with a 2-2 draw against Coleraine.
After seeing a Joe Gormley effort ruled out for offside, the Reds edged in front midway through the first-half when Sean Stewart’s free-kick delivery fell favourably for Burns and he made no mistake with a confident finish.
It was 2-0 five minutes later when Rory Hale thundered in from the edge of the box in the aftermath of Jonny Addis seeing a header cleared off the line, but Coleraine grabbed themselves a lifeline courtesy of Matthew Shevlin’s strike just past the hour.
Cliftonville had looked set to see out the win until the closing stages when the effects of Storm Kathleen had an impact on proceedings.
After an unpredictable wind had blown the ball in Ronan Hale’s direction in front of goal, a timely gust appeared to take the ball off his toe to prevent him from making a full connection and, when the Bannsiders broke forward, Jamie Glackin’s fierce delivery swept goalward and took a wicked bounce off the turf before striking David Odumosu and crossing the line.
The Reds came close to a late winner when substitute Leon Graham’s delivery evaded Ronan Hale by mere inches, ensuring the fixture returned to its virtually traditional 2-2 scoreline for the first time in a year.