Dressed to Cill

Jim Magilton believes a goal was all that was missing from Cillian Murray’s debut as the teen star impressed in Cliftonville’s County Antrim Shield defeat of Knockbreda last night.

Murray – one of two 16-year-olds in the line-up, alongside goalkeeper Matthew Belshaw – made a lively contribution to a commanding Reds performance at Solitude, where doubles from Liam McStravick and Joe Gormley booked progress to the quarter-finals.

Magilton was delighted to give the Academy talent his first taste of senior action and paid tribute to Cliftonville’s mentality in a game for which he made nine changes to the weekend’s starting XI.

“It was nice that Cillian Murray made his debut,” he said.

“He’s had an outstanding summer, so we thought this game was a really good opportunity for him to come and play. I thought he was excellent – lots of good things, great maturity in his play, he comes alive and makes other people come alive.

“He was probably unfortunate not to nick a a goal but, overall, I’m really pleased with him, I’m really pleased that players got minutes.

“You have to applaud the attitude and the intensity the players played at tonight. That was kind of the message going out and they carried that out.”