No excuses, says Magilton

Jim Magilton says the headlines generated by the unsavoury scenes at the end of yesterday’s defeat to Portadown will not be allowed to cover up a “limp” performance from Cliftonville.

Minutes after Odhran Casey had plundered an injury-time equaliser to cancel out Eamon Fyfe’s opener, the Reds were undone when James Teelan raced clear to claim full points for the away side.

Touchline confrontations then ended with Cliftonville Assistant Manager Gerard Lyttle joining Ports coach Steven Hyndes in being sent off by referee Chris Morrison, who also flashed a red card in the direction of subbed visiting midfielder Ben Wylie for his part in the incident.

Magilton acknowledged that the melee was the afternoon’s main talking point but insisted: “It overshadows and takes away from everything else that happened in the game but, at the end of the day, we just weren’t good enough.

“I thought we turned the ball over really cheaply. We’ve got good players who play here and train here and, as I’ve always said, if we train as we play and play as we train, we’re a different animal.

“There was no energy within the ground and we have to give our supporters something to get excited about and we didn’t. For the first 45 minutes, other than Eric McWoods’ chance, I thought we were really poor. We didn’t show any imagination, any desire to take the game to Portadown. They sat off, they had a game plan and we had enough opportunities to actually go and pass the ball and when we strung two passes together, we opened them up a little bit but there were no real chances other than Eric’s.

“You get in at half-time, you have a few choice words and you’re thinking there’s going to be a reaction but, again, we’ve flattered to deceive.

“For our goal, Odhran Casey’s shown unbelievable energy and desire to win the tackle; ball goes wide, ball’s in the box and he goes and wins it. Other than him, there were very few people who actually came out with any real credit – but I’m the Manager, I pick the team, so I have to take full responsibility for this and I do.”

Two players whose services Magilton was denied were Rory Hale and Jonny Addis, with the duo serving suspensions following their dismissals against Dungannon Swifts last week, but the Manager was disappointed in a collective failure to step up in their absences.

“Their absences offer an opportunity for other players to go and stake a claim,” he added.

“When you look at the game overall, you can’t give passion to people. It’s driven from within; it’s driven from you personally as an individual and that spreads through the team. Despite the valiant efforts of Odhran Casey, we were limp.

“There are absolutely no excuses for that performance. The Manager picked the team so the Manager has to take full blame – OK, when you cross the white line, your Manager can’t control when they give the ball away or a player’s poor decision making but, ultimately, the buck stops with the Manager.”