Solit finish

Cliftonville 2-0 Glenavon

Cliftonville signed off from Solitude for the season with victory over Glenavon courtesy of two second-half goals this afternoon.

Ryan Curran scrambled home the opener eight minutes after the interval before substitute Eric McWoods maintained his fine form with a a 73rd minute strike to put the seal on things.

Though the Reds were the better side throughout, there was a notable step up in performance after the interval, with the opening 45 minutes failing to really ignite.

The first chance of the afternoon saw Curran fire wide before an excellent save from Mark Byrne prevented Alex Parsons from breaking the deadlock following an Odhran Casey cross. The resulting corner again saw Curran direct an attempt off target, while the half ended with Shea Kearney shooting over the top after being teed up by Micheal Glynn.

The deadlock was broken on 53 minutes when Kearney’s cross was nodded back across the face of goal by Parsons and Curran got there ahead of Barney McKeown to bundle the ball over the line.

Soon later, Davy McDaid’s header stopped Casey from doubling Cliftonville’s advantage before a one-handed stop from Byrne kept Glynn at bay.

The points were secured 17 minutes from time when Coran Madden breezed past two defenders and supplied the pass from which McWoods beat Byrne at his near post, while Madden himself came close to having the contest’s final say when – like Kris Lowe earlier in the half – he was unable to find the target with an audacious shot from distance.

Cliftonville: Odumosu, Pepper (Hale, 70 mins), Stewart (Madden, 57 mins), Kearney, Curran (Corrigan, 70 mins), Lowe, Glynn, Casey (Addis, 69 mins), Keaney, McGuinness, Parsons (McWoods, 57 mins). Unused subs: Ridd, Gormley.