Monday Monthly: April

With Cliftonville’s pre-season programme drawing to a close, so too does cliftonvillefc.net‘s weekly mini-series reflecting on the good, the bad and the in-betweens of the 2025/26 campaign deliver its final chapter.

Every Monday throughout the summer, we’ve been taking a chronological look back on a month from last term – with a disappointing conclusion completing the story this afternoon.

A Clearer Water Irish Cup semi-final encounter with Dungannon Swifts at the Clearer Twist Stadium bore uncanny hallmarks to the sides’ meeting in the competition’s decider 11 months earlier when, having fallen 1-0 down, the Reds forced an equaliser in the closing seconds in front of the Kop Stand (below), only to lose 4-3 on penalties at the other end of the pitch.

Back on Sports Direct Premiership duty, Jim Magilton’s side slipped to a controversial home defeat at the hands of a Glentoran side who should have had two players sent off over the course of the evening.

MJ Kamson-Kamara’s cynical foul to deny Brian Healy a run on goal was punished only by a yellow card from referee Louise Thompson, who later opted against taking any action against the already-booked James Singleton when he dragged Ryan Curran to the ground.

Trailing 2-0 after switching off at key moments of the first-half, Cliftonville pulled one back through Joe Gormley but were unable to find the equalising goal their performance merited.

A few days later, however, the injury count really began to tell when, despite racing into a 2-0 lead through Gormley and Liam McStravick, a patched-up Reds side – which featured a host of young Academy stars – conceded six without reply en route to a heavy defeat.

They bounced back a week later, however, when Curran (below) registered the only goal of the game against Dungannon before the team’s League programme came to an end when two McStravick strikes earned three points against Linfield at the Clearer Twist Stadium.

Thereafter, Cliftonville awaited their fate in the BetMcLean European Play-Offs where Dungannon – having lost the Irish Cup Final and overcome Carrick Rangers in the opening Play-Off tie – once again provided the opposition and again came away on the right side of the result on a night when, though level courtesy of a Luke Conlan finish, the Reds simply failed to find their spark, ensuring the campaign ended on a hugely disappointing note.

April 2026
Cliftonville 1-1 Dungannon Swifts [3-4 on penalties]
Sheridan

Cliftonville 1-2 Glentoran
Gormley

Coleraine 6-2 Cliftonville
Gormley, McStravick

Cliftonville 1-0 Dungannon Swifts
Curran

Linfield 1-2 Cliftonville
McStravick [2]

Player of the Month: Liam McStravick
Goal of the Month: Liam McStravick’s second v Linfield

May 2026
Cliftonville 1-2 Dungannon Swifts
Conlan