Burning finish

Lisburn Rangers 2-3 Cliftonville Ladies

Cliftonville Ladies scored twice in the closing minutes to overcome Lisburn Rangers and maintain their grip on the Electric Ireland Women’s Irish Cup.

Having broken the deadlock at Crewe Park, the Reds found themselves behind at the interval and, try as they might, were simply unable to fashion a route back into the contest until three minutes from time, when a Caitlin McGuinness equaliser set up a grandstand finale that saw Fi Morgan complete the job with her second goal of the night.

Having comprehensively defeated Rangers in last season’s Final, Cliftonville travelled to Glenavy for this evening’s second round tie expecting a fierce challenge and that’s certainly what they got, being forced to work hard before eventually going 1-0 up through a powerful Morgan header.

The hosts responded well, however, and not only levelled matters before half-time but reached the break 2-1 to the good thanks to a Faye Loughran double, leaving the Reds with some serious work to do in the second period.

Despite dominating possession and subjecting Lisburn to wave after wave of attack, Cliftonville appeared to be on the brink of elimination when Carla Devine flicked on for McGuinness to squeeze home an equaliser.

The Reds weren’t content to settle for extra-time, though, and completed a fine late turnaround just as the clock ticked into 90 minutes when Morgan nodded in from Marissa Callaghan’s corner kick.