200 and won!

Cliftonville 5-2 Crusaders

Cliftonville roared to North Belfast Derby victory in our 200th League meeting with Crusaders.

Off to a dream start courtesy of early finishes from Brian Healy and Luke Conlan, the Reds’ advantage was halved by Adam Brooks just before half-time only for Micheal Glynn to make it 3-1 shortly after the interval.

A bullet header from Scot Rough reduced the arrears again before a dream of a strike from Harry Wilson bought Cliftonville some breathing space, which Josh Kelly added to with an injury-time header.

Boasting two changes to the line-up that started Tuesday’s abandoned Sports Direct Premiership tussle with Portadown, the Reds pulled in front after just four minutes when a quick free-kick from Rory Hale was seized upon by the alert Healy, who held off the challenge of a defender before lashing past goalkeeper Musa Dibaga.

Five minutes later, it was 2-0 when Glynn’s corner delivery was met at the near post by Conlan and he produced a clinical finish.

Glynn then flashed an attempt just wide before the visitors pulled one back when Brooks glanced a header home, but the Reds’ two-goal advantage might have been restored before half-time when Healy was denied by a goal-line clearance and Hale blasted a half-volley at Dibaga before the Crues keeper made an excellent stop to claw out a low drive from Adam Carroll.

The Reds did get their third goal three minutes after the turnaround when Glynn picked his spot with a confident finish, only for Crusaders to quickly hit back when Rough met a corner delivery with a thunderbolt header.

After substitute Joe Gormley saw a fierce attempt deflected behind for a corner, Cliftonville established their third two-goal lead of the game when Wilson picked up the ball in a dangerous area and let fly with a beautiful curling strike from the edge of the box.

With the Derby Day points now secure, the Reds added an extra layer of gloss to proceedings right at the finish when Hale sent in a free-kick that Kelly got on the end of to put the seal on a five-star day at Solitude.

Cliftonville: Ridd, Wilson, Hale, Leppard, Glynn (Hawthorne, 82 mins), Conlan (A Kelly, 82 mins), Toole, J Kelly, Healy (Gormley, 71 mins), Carroll (Curran, 71 mins), Sheridan (McStravick, 63 mins). Unused subs: Murray, Pepper.