Keeping up appearances

Joe Gormley’s appearance in Thursday night’s UEFA Conference League fixture with St Joseph’s saw him become Cliftonville’s all-time leading European cap holder with 19 outings on the continental scene.

Further to that, his acrobatic strike in the second-half of the game lifted him clear as the Reds’ top scorer in UEFA competition, with finishes against Nordsjælland (2018) and Barry Town United (2019) having previously seen him share the accolade with Liam Boyce, Jay Donnelly and Conor McMenamin.

As an aside, Thursday’s goal also means Gormley – who had entered the game level with Ryan Catney in the appearances stakes – is the only Cliftonville player to have ever registered European strikes in both ends at Solitude.

On a less celebrated note, meanwhile, Pablo Rodriguez’s opening minute effort was the 100th goal the Reds have conceded in Europe and, having made Club history by scoring while down to 10 men for the first time in a continental tie during the first leg in Gibraltar, Cliftonville duly repeated the feat this week.

Micheal Glynn’s first goal for the Reds saw him become our 22nd different Euro scorer, with Thursday’s contest being just the second time we have participated in extra-time on the UEFA stage, following on from a 2001 Intertoto Cup tie to Tiligul Tiraspol which, interestingly, also ended in defeat following a contentious red card decision.