Monday Monthly: October

A day ahead of Cliftonville learning their first competitive opponents of the new season, cliftonvillefc.net continues a weekly mini-series reflecting on the good, the bad and the in-betweens of last term.

Every Monday between now and the new domestic campaign getting under way, we’ll take a chronological look back on a month from the the term just finished – with an up and down October taking centre stage today.

Handed a tricky BetMcLean Cup assignment against a confident Limavady United side, the Reds set about their task well and took a first-half lead through a fine finish from Taylor Steven (above) before passage to the second round was confirmed when Destiny Ojo tucked home a late security strike.

A few days later, however, the team produced arguably their worst display of the entire season when Carrick Rangers cruised to a 2-0 win at Taylors Avenue, where the visitors did not have a meaningful shot on target as the managerless home team banked three crucial Sports Direct Premiership points.

Bidding to bounce back from that insipid showing, Cliftonville suffered their first – and, it turned out, last – early Cup exit of the season when Ballymena United booked progress to the semi-finals of the County Antrim Shield with a 1-0 victory at Solitude on a night when Jim Magilton’s side failed to make their dominance of possession count.

A third straight game without a goal followed when Glenavon visited North Belfast on League duty but, whereas the previous two defeats were largely down to a failure to create opportunities, the stalemate with the Lurgan Blues saw the Reds pass up chance after chance to break the deadlock and, when substitute Ryan Markey headed against the post in injury-time, there was an inevitability about the spoils being shared.

The following midweek, however, saw Cliftonville rediscover their shooting boots as Joe Gormley’s first-half penalty opened the scoring against Coleraine and, though the visitors levelled before the break, Gormley (above) swept home his second of the night to earn a wholly deserved and much welcome three points that gave the team a notable spring in their step when they took on Linfield at Windsor Park a few days later.

Despite performing with a swagger that had been largely absent in previous weeks, the Reds appeared to be heading to defeat after falling behind on 16 minutes but, after Ruaidhri Donnelly had teed Ryan Curran up to level things 10 minutes from time (below), Cliftonville set about completing a turnaround and achieved their aim when Ryan Corrigan was quickest to react to a loose ball in the box following a corner delivery.

With seven points from three games to end a tough month, did the Reds have the momentum they needed to tackle the North Belfast Derby mission that awaited them in early November..?

October 2024
Limavady United 0-2 Cliftonville
Steven, Ojo

Carrick Rangers 2-0 Cliftonville

Cliftonville 0-1 Ballymena United

Cliftonville 0-0 Glenavon

Cliftonville 2-1 Coleraine
Gormley 2

Linfield 1-2 Cliftonville
Curran, Corrigan

Player of the Month: Joe Gormley
Goal of the Month: Taylor Steven v Limavady United