Aud ones out

Cliftonville 1-2 Auda

Cliftonville slipped to defeat in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League second qualifying round tie with Auda at Solitude this evening.

After the Latvians had seen Abiodun Ogunniyi’s opener cancelled out by a strike from Luke Conlan, the Reds saw Ronan Doherty and Jonny Addis go close in the second period before an individual effort from Abdulrahman Taiwo secured victory for the visitors.

The Reds handed competitive debuts to two players – Conlan and Michael Newberry – in a starting XI that also welcomed Ruaidhri Donnelly and fit-again Ryan Curran back to action, but it was goalkeeper David Odumosu who had the night’s first telling involvement when he got down to cut out a dangerous delivery from Mor Talla after just six minutes.

Auda goalkeeper Krisjanis Zviedris was forced into a save to keep Donnelly at bay before Taiwo flicked an attempt wide at the other end.

The deadlock was broken on 32 minutes when Cliftonville’s failure to deal with a corner delivery was punished by Ogunniyi turning the ball home from close range.

Within minutes, however, the Reds were level from a set piece delivery of their own; Conlan perfectly placed to steer past the keeper after Shea Gordon’s ball into the box had been knocked into his path.

After the break, an inviting Conor Pepper cross evaded both Curran and Donnelly before Zviedris dived to his right to palm a goalbound Ronan Doherty effort to safety.

The visiting skipper also produced acrobatics to deal with a fizzing strike from Jonny Addis but, just as Cliftonville appeared to be getting on top, Auda reclaimed the lead when Taiwo raced clear from deep before keeping his cool to convert.

Cliftonville did what they could to apply some late pressure and were almost rewarded deep into injury-time when Doherty’s free-kick found Shaun Leppard at the back post but the substitute saw his header flash just wide.

Cliftonville: Odumosu, Pepper, Stewart, Addis, Newberry, Kearney, Curran, Donnelly, Conlan, Gordon, Doherty. Subs: Breen, Leppard (Stewart, 87 mins), Jordan, Gormley (Donnelly, 73 mins), McGuinness, Berry, Wylie (Gordon, 87 mins), Corrigan (Curran, 67 mins), Sheridan.