Drawing lessons

Jim Magilton believes his players will have learned an “important lesson” in yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Bangor.

After Ryan Curran broke the deadlock with a penalty kick that brought his Cliftonville goal tally to 100, the Reds were pegged back when Ben Arthurs made the most of a rare Jonny Addis error before the break.

Though the Seasiders started the second period by hitting the bar through Ben Cushnie and ended it with Mark Haughey blasting into the side netting from close range, it was the visitors who carried most of the attacking threat with Eric McWoods, Adebayo Fapetu and Conor Falls all going close alongside a trio of Joe Gormley opportunities.

Magilton saw plenty of positives in the display but was disappointed his young side were unable to turn one point into three.

“I thought we started really, really well,” he said.

“We had total control of the game and our tempo and movement were very good.

“It’s always a difficult place to come to because of the quality of the opposition and what they have done. Lee Feeney deserves immense credit and his players deserve immense credit, but I thought we controlled the game.

“Jonny Addis doesn’t make many mistakes but he just has a slip and, to be fair to Ben Arthurs, it’s a really good finish.

“I thought we didn’t play with the same impetus in the second-half. We didn’t show enough in the attacking third. We had possession – not what I would call quality possession – and a few opportunities in the second-half, but we didn’t test their goalkeeper enough.

“The way we controlled the game for the first half an hour or up to their goal, I thought we needed to increase the tempo. That’s not easy to do here but I thought we got sloppy and when you get sloppy, good teams sense that. We’re still learning and that’s another important lesson.

“They did sit off in the second-half to an extent and were looking to play on the counter. We just have to be more threatening in the box and we didn’t have that. All in all, it’s a point – I wish it was three but credit to Lee and his squad for that.”