Monday Monthly: March

With Cliftonville’s pre-season programme now in full swing, cliftonvillefc.net continues a weekly mini-series reflecting on the good, the bad and the in-betweens of the 2025/26 campaign.

Every Monday throughout the summer, we’ve been taking a chronological look back on a month from last term – with a fixture-heavy March providing today’s penultimate chapter.

On the back of a heavy home loss at the hands of Glentoran, the Reds went in search of a positive response when Linfield visited Solitude a few days later and the courage of their performance was rewarded when Shaun Leppard (below) nodded in a second-half opener.

Joe Gormley made absolutely sure of the points with the last action of the game and, though we’re not saying the ball definitely hit his hand after coming back off the post, we’re content that VAR was not in operation for the game.

Cliftonville built on that display a few days later when they overcame Portadown in a rearranged Premiership encounter at Shamrock Park. Abandoned with the Reds 1-0 up a few weeks earlier, this time the match went the full distance with Joe Sheridan’s breakthrough strike (below) and a late effort attributed to Rory Hale making for a good night’s work.

Jim Magilton’s side were back in County Armagh the following weekend when Loughgall provided the opposition on Clearer Water Irish Cup quarter-final day.

An eye-catching early goal by Keevan Hawthorne (below) was quickly followed up by a Leppard header, ensuring Cliftonville were well in control even prior to Liam McStravick making absolutely sure after the break.

Next up was a North Belfast Derby duel with Crusaders at Seaview where, despite dominating proceedings from start to finish, the Reds looked like they were going to have to make do with a single point until, with the clock having ticked into injury-time, substitute Gormley seized on a loose ball on the edge of the box and blasted in a sublime low effort that nestled in the far corner to spark scenes of wild celebrations among fans and players alike – and not least from Jonny Addis, who claimed to have had the final touch.

The winning streak came to an end, however, when Coleraine banked a 1-0 win at The Showgrounds before Glentoran registered three unanswered goals on a night when Cliftonville’s demanding schedule appeared to have finally caught up with them in east Belfast.

Further frustration of sorts followed a few days later when, after racing into a 2-0 lead against Ballymena United thanks to finishes from Sean Robertson (above) and Brian Healy, the red card Rory Hale picked up in the act of giving away a penalty turned the dial in the Sky Blues’ favour after the break and they eventually hit back for a 2-2 draw before the month was rounded off by a 2-0 reversal against Larne at Inver Park.

March 2026
Cliftonville 2-0 Linfield
Leppard, Gormley

Portadown 0-2 Cliftonville
Sheridan, Hale

Loughgall 0-3 Cliftonville
Hawthorne, Leppard, McStravick

Crusaders 0-1 Cliftonville
Gormley

Coleraine 1-0 Cliftonville

Glentoran 3-0 Cliftonville

Cliftonville 2-2 Ballymena United
Robertson, Healy

Larne 2-0 Cliftonville

Player of the Month: Shaun Leppard
Goal of the Month: Keevan Hawthorne v Loughgall