Major Kee

Cliftonville 4-1 Linfield

Keevan Hawthorne claimed his first Cliftonville goal as the Reds roared to a 4-1 victory over Linfield in tonight’s County Antrim Shield clash at Solitude.

Ahead through Rory Hale’s thunderbolt after 12 minutes, the hosts doubled their advantage when Hawthorne picked his spot with a stylish strike on the half-hour.

Though Linfield pulled one back on 44 minutes courtesy of Callumn Morrison, the red card dished out to Chris McKee for a foul on Hale stalled any momentum they were hoping to generate and Cliftonville made the most of their numerical superiority by adding further goals early in the second-half from Ryan Curran and Tom Lavery.

Boss Jim Magilton made seven changes to the side that lost to Larne at the weekend and it was one of the new faces in the starting XI, Eric McWoods, who had the first chance only for his shot to be kept out by Blues goalkeeper David Walsh.

The breakthrough came when Jonny Addis’ flick on from a Hawthorne corner led to a partial clearance in the direction of Hale, who leathered an unstoppable blast into the net from just outside the box.

Soon later, quick thinking from Lewis Ridd set Joe Sheridan away and his pass found McWoods, who was once again denied by the keeper.

Cliftonville’s second goal eventually came when Curran made the most of a loose pass in the visiting defence and played the ball into Hawthorne’s path before the young winger cracked a delightful drive low and hard into the bottom corner.

McWoods almost scored a fine individual effort only to be thwarted by Walsh for a third time before penalty appeals for Dane McCullough’s challenge on the American were dismissed by Evan Boyce just a few seconds before the away side pulled one back when Morrison squeezed the ball past Ridd and his near post.

McKee’s crude challenge on Hale earned a straight red card right on the stroke of half-time and, within five minutes of the restart, the Reds had made sure of their passage to the semi-finals with two quickfire conversions.

First, Curran picked his spot with a confident finish after being teed up by Hale before Lavery nodded in via the upright after getting on the end of a cross from Hawthorne, who had dazzled down the left before delivering to the far post.

Though that completed the night’s scoring, the Reds still saw a host of chances come and go with Curran twice denied by blocks inside the box and McWoods seeing an attempt charged down by Sam Roscoe-Byrne.

Substitute Joe Gormley threatened three times in five minutes with a long-range effort gathered by Walsh before an attempted chip went over the top and a low shot was deflected wide by Roscoe-Byrne as Cliftonville maintained the pressure until the final blast of the referee’s whistle.

Cliftonville: Ridd, Addis, Wilson, Hale (McCay 63), Curran (Gormley 74), Casey (Leppard 63), Robertson (Lavery 19), Keaney, McWoods (Falls 74), Hawthorne, Sheridan. Unused subs: Morrison, Pepper.