Poor Cols cost us, says Jim

Jim Magilton couldn’t fault his players in the aftermath of yesterday’s defeat to Coleraine.

Cliftonville fell to an unfortunate 1-0 defeat at The Showgrounds, where the Reds boss was less than impressed with referee Ian McNabb’s decision not to award Shaun Leppard a free-kick just seconds before the same player was penalised for a foul that ultimately led to Will Patching scoring the only goal of the game.

The Bannsiders midfielder then put a penalty kick wide of the mark after a coming together between Leppard and Matthew Shevlin that appeared to take place outside the box while, at the other end, Cliftonville saw finishes from Ryan Curran and Brian Healy chalked off for offside – the latter of which looked a particularly suspect call.

Despite those frustrations, Magilton was pleased with how his players approached the latest assignment of a gruelling fixture programme.

“I thought the first-half was a pretty even contest,” he said.

“I thought both teams tried to pass the ball and we created really good opportunities and had our quality in the final third been better, I think we would have created better opportunities.

“Half-time was about reiterating that and going out and doing a little bit more if possible.

“I thought it was a poor decision from the referee not to award a free-kick for a foul on Shaun Leppard. He said he played an advantage, I didn’t see an advantage.

“I think the referee had a bad day in all honesty. I think he made a poor decision for the penalty which was clearly outside the box and also Brian Healy was onside.

“From our point of view, I’m always disappointed to lose but it’s the manner in which you lose and I thought our attitude and application, given our schedule, was just outstanding. To come up here and play in the manner we played and the passages we had, I’m very pleased.”