Won and only objective

Jim Magilton lauded his players’ determination to see the job through after Cliftonville got the better of Dungannon Swifts at Solitude last night.

After a first-half largely bossed by the visitors, the Reds worked their way through the gears before being rewarded with a Joe Gormley effort that proved enough to earn all three Sports Direct Premiership points.

While he admits his team can do better in terms of overall performance, Magilton was pleased to come out on top against a lively Swifts outfit.

“Ultimately, it’s about winning the game and getting three points,” he said.

“We secured three points by doing it ugly in a difficult game but you have to credit the opposition, they never make life easy for us at all.

“This group of players are still getting used to each other. We had one or two late additions to the squad and that’s always going to take a little bit of time for transition, but overall I’m pleased with the points although we need to do better, there’s no doubt.

“Once we scored with another fantastic finish from Joe, it’s important that we see out the game because Dungannon, let’s be honest, were better than us. They adapted to the conditions better than we did but we managed to score that all-important goal and then have the courage and determination to see it out.”

As well as the positives of seeing Kris Lowe and Ryan Curran continue their comebacks from injury, Magilton was likewise encouraged by the performances of substitutes Ryan Markey, Axel Piesold and Destiny Ojo – who are all in the early days of their Cliftonville careers – and toasted another big contribution from Man of the Match Shea Gordon who, following on from opening his goal account against Glenavon on Saturday, provided a host of opportunities for his team-mates last night.

“Shea’s building and every performance Shea gives now is really important for him and his confidence and self belief – you can see that in his game,” added Magilton.

“We’ve got to just keep pushing him. It was great to get Kris Lowe minutes because he’s an important player who gives us incredible adaptability, but obviously the only real down side is Ruaidhri Donnelly going off again with the other hamstring.

“We got Ryan Curran more minutes too. I think Ryan Markey’s going to be a fantastic addition, Ojo made a difference coming off the bench and Axel again showed real quality in his play.

“There’s a lot to dissect and we obviously want to improve but we have to be happy with the three points.”