Magilton seeks finishing touch

Building on the positives of their performances but learning from harsh lessons is key to Cliftonville addressing their downturn in results, says Jim Magilton.

Like everyone else at Solitude on Saturday night, the Reds boss was stunned when his team’s dominance of their Boyle Sports Premiership clash with Portadown ended in last-gasp defeat, continuing a theme that has seen a number of gallant displays go unrewarded in recent weeks.

Last Tuesday night’s County Antrim Shield win over Glentoran delivered a rare break from that sequence and Cliftonville will hope that this evening’s return to knockout action in the BetMcLean Cup provides a similarly beneficial outcome against familiar foes.

“We have to stay positive and retain belief,” says Magilton ahead of a third meeting with the Ports in five weeks and second in four days.

“We have done well in games, played some good stuff but we’ve lacked a cutting edge and that’s what we have to work on and improve.

“On Saturday night, we controlled the game from pretty much start to finish but you can only control games up to a point because putting the ball in the net is what matters. Portadown did that twice and got the three points.

“Full credit to them, they were resilient and stayed in the game. They maybe sensed an opportunity was there for them at the end and they took it, so whatever domination and control we had didn’t really matter in the end.

“For us, it’s about reinforcing positive messages and trying to build on the good things that we do so that we don’t keep finding ourselves in a position of playing well, not being effective enough in the final third and then ultimately losing matches because that’s really been the story of the last few weeks.”

Not only was Saturday’s defeat hard to take, the evening also saw two new names added to an injury list that had already been extended in the days leading up to the game.

Dean McMaster was forced to withdraw from the starting XI, while the Reds played out the closing exchanges with 10 men after substitute Joe Gormley was forced to hobble off.

“Dan O’Connor could be out for a few months,” added Magilton.

“He twisted his ankle on Thursday night. Rhyss Campbell could be out for a couple of months too, so we’re seriously down bodies.”

Portadown v Cliftonville
Tonight (7.45pm)
Adults: £15
Concessions: £10
Under-12s: £5
Tickets: General Sale