Birthday blues

Dungannon Swifts 2-1 Cliftonville

Cliftonville’s winning run came to an end thanks in large part to a disastrous 14-minute spell at Stangmore Park this afternoon.

Having made a slow start against Dungannon Swifts, the Reds fell behind when a Tomas Galvin shot was handled on the line by Rory Hale before Junior forced the loose ball into the net. Referee Declan Hassan had, however, been somewhat hasty in blowing his whistle to award the penalty and, duty bound to rule the goal out, was then obliged to give Hale his marching orders.

Junior stepped up to convert from the spot before the hosts doubled their advantage when Caolan Marron rose to meet Kealan Dillon’s free-kick.

Jim Magilton made a triple change at half-time and one of the new arrivals played a key role in helping Cliftonville reduce the arrears when Callum McCay’s pass found Joe Gormley, who did well to get the better of Danny Wallace and shoot beyond goalkeeper Declan Dunne.

Galvanised, the Reds went in search of an unlikely equaliser but were denied in one instance by a repeat of the referee’s over-eagerness to sound his whistle; a visibly frustrated Magilton earning a caution for his reaction to seeing a promising counter-attack halted so that his team could be awarded a free-kick deep inside their own half.

With Sean Robertson impressing on the flank, Odhran Casey drew a save from Dunne as the visitors began to boss possession and, after Jack Keaney saw a header hacked off the line by Wallace, substitute Conor Falls was unable to steer a close-range header the right side of the crossbar.

Seeking an explosive ending on the 146th anniversary of the Club’s foundation, a smart passing move ended with Eric McWoods shooting straight at the keeper but the Reds’ momentum was slowed when, with just a few minutes remaining, Jonny Addis’ foul on Mal Smith earned a second caution to leave the visitors down to nine men for the closing exchanges.

Cliftonville: Morrison, Pepper (Barr, 46 mins), Keaney, Addis, Glynn, Casey, Fapetu (Falls, 82 mins), Curran (Robertson, 46 mins), Gordon (McCay, 46 mins), Hale, Gormley (McWoods, 65 mins). Unused subs: Ridd, Wilson.