Swift response vital for Magilton

Jim Magilton sung the praises of his players after yesterday’s superb comeback victory over Dungannon Swifts.

A deflected Gael Bigirimana effort gave the hosts a 21st minute lead at Stangmore Park, but Joe Gormley’s instant leveller set Cliftonville on course for victory.

Taylor Steven’s curler made it 2-1 and, after netting from the penalty spot before the break, Gormley completed his hat-trick with a header 17 minutes from time to leave Magilton thrilled with the Reds’ display.

“This is a very, very difficult place to come and the first 20 minutes was a case in point,” he reflected.

“I’m delighted with the character and resilience that we showed after going a goal behind. It was important to score very quickly after that and then we’ve really imposed ourselves on the game.

“When you go in 3-1 up at half-time, it’s your game to lose and the next goal’s always the important one, so we were put under a little bit more pressure at the start of the second-half but, once we withstood that, we again passed the ball well and made some changes to give everyone game time, which is important because everybody wants to play.

“To come here and play in the manner in which we played and to get four goals is huge for us. I think Dungannon are an outstanding team and they’ve proved that this year.”

It would, of course, have been remiss for the Manager to let his afternoon’s observations pass without a comment on Gormley’s contribution, with Magilton adding: “Joe Gormley is a class act and one of the finest finishers I’ve ever been around.

“It’s no coincidence that he’s the one that finds space in the box and that’s an art in itself – I’ve no idea how they do it but the great players and great goalscorers do that.”