Cliftonville battled from behind to get the better of Carrick Rangers in this afternoon’s Boyle Sports Premiership clash at Taylors Avenue.
Trailing to an early Caleb Hawthorne effort, the Reds – debuting their new Green and Navy away kit – rallied to lead at the interval courtesy of Kyle McClelland’s header and clever finish from Ben Quinn.
Forced into stout rearguard action after the break, Cliftonville nevertheless went close to extending their lead through both Shaun Leppard and Brian Healy before an injury-time free-kick from Dean McMaster wrapped things up.
Featuring no changes to the starting XI that had defeated Portadown last time out, Jim Magilton’s men almost fell behind after just eight minutes when former Reds midfielder Kym Nelson headed wide from Jordan Forsythe’s long throw in.
It wasn’t long before Carrick were in front, though; Hawthorne reacting quickest to steer past PJ Morrison after the Cliftonville keeper had touched Aidan Steele’s blast against the crossbar.
The visitors were level within five minutes when Quinn’s corner kick was met at the back post by McClelland and it was 2-1 before half-time when Liam McStravick fed possession to Quinn inside the box and he showed composure to get the better of Nathan Gartside.
Another long throw from Forsythe saw Nedas Maciulaitis shoot off target while, during a spell of Cliftonville living dangerously after the break, Steele saw another attempt come back off the woodwork before the offside flag cut Danny Gibson’s celebrations short.
On 87 minutes, Forsythe headed inches wide but the Reds lifted the pressure at the finish when Kyle Cherry’s foul on Rhyss Campbell earned a free-kick that McMaster stepped up to plant into the bottom corner.
Cliftonville: Morrison, Samuels (Conlan, 64 mins), O’Connor, Hale, Healy (Campbell, 76 mins), McClelland, McMaster, Quinn (Gormley, 64 mins), Bannon, McStravick (Leppard, 64 mins), Sheridan (Thompson, 76 mins). Unused subs: Cremen-Cowan, Hawthorne.