Ten-man Cliftonville were forced to make do with a point from tonight’s Sports Direct Premiership encounter with Ballymena United at Solitude.
An alert finish from Sean Robertson and well-taken Brian Healy strike had the hosts 2-0 up at half-time, but 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.
Igor Rutkowski slammed home from the spot to reduce the arrears and, after Robertson was forced off with injury, Cliftonville’s misfortune continued when Joe Toole directed a James Hood drive into his own net to draw United level.
The Reds had got off to a dream start when, with just two minutes on the clock, Robertson seized on a slack backpass from Daithi McCallion to nudge the ball past goalkeeper Brad Wade and into the net.
Robertson went close to making it 2-0 but, after being teed up by Hale just outside the box, he stepped away from McCallion only to see his shot kept out by Wade’s foot.
The second goal eventually came when Healy showed strength and composure to hold off the challenge of David Toure before slotting into the bottom corner.
The tide started to turn against Cliftonville early in the second period when Hale’s trip on Rutkowski saw the skipper dismissed ahead of the Ballymena frontman netting the resulting penalty just minutes before the lively Robertson had to exit the action with a facial injury.
His replacement, Keevan Hawthorne, went close to restoring the Reds’ two-goal advantage only to be denied by Wade, who breathed a sigh of relief when Healy’s flicked header came back off the post.
Ballymena levelled on 71 minutes when a low drive from Hood was turned past PJ Morrison by Toole and, though the visitors sensed victory was in sight, the 10 men dug deep to limit their opportunities and left with a point to show for their efforts.
Cliftonville: Morrison, Hale, Leppard, Glynn, Robertson (Hawthorne, 56 mins), A Kelly, Toole, McStravick (McCay, 85 mins), J Kelly, Healy (Gormley, 85 mins), Sheridan (Curran, 75 mins). Unused subs: Ridd, Pepper, Carroll.