Sean target

Cliftonville 4-1 Coagh United

Sean Robertson scored his first Cliftonville goal as the BetMcLean Cup holders made safe passage to the second round with a 4-1 win against Coagh United at Solitude this evening.

The Londoner pounced to restore the Reds’ lead at the start of the second-half after Rory Hale’s opener had been cancelled out by Ben Mallon.

Substitutes Joe Gormley and Eric McWoods then got their names on the scoresheet to ensure the scoreboard provided a more accurate reflection of Cliftonville’s display in the second period.

The night almost got off to the perfect start when wing wizardry from Keevan Hawthorne led to an opportunity for Brandon Bermingham, but he planted his effort wide of the mark.

Hale then drew two saves from visiting keeper Richard Purcell, who was quickly off his line to deny Ryan Curran shortly after Adebayo Fapetu had steered an attempt past the upright.

The deadlock was broken on 25 minutes when Robertson’s cross was guided home by Hale, but the advantage lasted just four minutes before Mallon touched home an equaliser for the Premier Intermediate League side.

Cliftonville edged back in front seven minutes after the interval when, having initially appeared to find himself crowded out by the Coagh defence, Robertson exchanged passes with Fapetu before poking in at the near post.

Jonny Addis then went close three times in five minutes, first volleying over from Robertson’s cross, clearing the crossbar from a Hale cutback and then seeing a close-range blast charged down.

Gormley made sure of the Reds’ progress when he made it 3-1 with 15 minutes left on the clock, although quite how much he knew about the set-up to his goal remains up in the air with the striker inadvertently getting in the way of a shot from Hale before keeping his composure to slot beyond Purcell.

The visiting keeper then made two smart saves to stop Callum McCay getting in on the scoring act before the contest was wrapped up two minutes into injury-time when Hale’s back post delivery was nodded in by McWoods.

Cliftonville: Ridd, Lavery, Addis, Hale, Curran (Gormley 63), Bermingham (Falls 63), Casey (Wilson 63), Robertson (McWoods 85), Keaney, Hawthorne, Fapetu (McCay 76). Unused subs: Morrison, Pepper.