Magilton lauds support cast

As pleased as he was with his players’ efforts in last night’s Sports Direct Premiership defeat to Glentoran, Jim Magilton took time to thank Cliftonville’s supporters for their response to the team’s performance.

Despite largely controlling the first-half, the Reds found themselves 2-0 down at the interval and were unable to fashion an equaliser after Joe Gormley had pulled a goal back just past the hour mark.

With the result coming on the back of a disheartening penalty shootout loss in Friday’s Clearer Water Irish Cup semi-final, Magilton was delighted with the appreciation the Red Army showed at the end of the game.

“I can’t thank them enough,” he said.

“That means the world to the players, it means the world to all of us. They stayed with them and to get that reaction was superb.

“We don’t hide behind performances, I’ve never hid behind performances. If I think we’ve played poorly, I’ll come out and tell you that, but tonight I thought we showed courage. No matter what team you play for or what shirt you put on, this shirt just means a little bit more to the fans here and the players responded in bucketloads tonight.”

On the match itself, Magilton added: “I was immensely proud of the players.

“To play 120 minutes and lose on penalties on Friday night, knowing the quality of the opposition on Tuesday, to put in that type of performance and to stand up and show courage in the manner we did, I thought was fantastic.

“Our fans will have expected a reaction and they got one. That is great but, ultimately, we lose the game with two really poor goals.

“It’s kind of been the story of our season. When we’ve been on top, we’ve just lacked that final ball and quality and decision-making in the final third.If you don’t score, you’re always liable because Glentoran were always going to create chances. They took theirs and we didn’t.

“In the second-half, we scored a great goal and were on the front foot and, on another night, we get two decisions that go with us but, for reasons that only the referee will know, we didn’t get them.”

The first of ref Louise Thompson’s controversial calls came five minutes before the opening goal when Glentoran defender MJ Kamson-Kamara was merely yellow carded for denying Brian Healy a clear goalscoring opportunity when he dragged the striker back after misplacing a pass.

Six minutes from the end of the match, the already-cautioned James Singleton escaped a second yellow card when he felled Ryan Curran in a manner similar to that which had earned Kamson-Kamara a booking.

“The centre-half has made a mistake, he knows he’s made a mistake and it’s a reaction but Brian Healy’s through,” said Magilton.

“With all due respect to the covering defender, he’s not catching him. So it’s a really poor decision.

“The second one is even more baffling. It wasn’t just a pull back, he’s actually nearly on Ryan Curran’s back. In any other minute or any other action in the game when that happens, it’s a yellow card. The referee didn’t give it for whatever reason.

“Those decisions have gone against us. That’s not to say we’d have gone on and won the game or got something out of it, but it would certainly have helped our cause.”