CLIFTONVILLE boss Jim Magilton feels his side’s “work ethic, attitude and application” can bring success this season after a sluggish start to the campaign.
A goal from skipper Rory Hale five minutes before the break following a neat pass from Keevan Hawthorne was enough to hand the reds a 1-0 win over Sports Direct Premiership leaders Coleraine at Solitude.
The result means the Bannsiders are still a point clear of second-placed Larne – who beat Glenavon 2-1 at Inver Park on Friday night – although the east Antrim side have two matches in hand.
The top two meet at the Showgrounds on Tuesday night.
After struggling for form at the start of the season and flirting with the relegation zone, the Reds are now sixth in the table.
Magilton said: “We dug in so well. I thought our work ethic, attitude and our application were outstanding.
“I thought the goal we scored was a really top-class goal and if you watch football all weekend, you might not see a better goal in terms of the way we moved, passed the ball and Rory’s finish.
Cliftonville return to action onTuesday night when they tackle Ballymena United at the Showgrounds for a spot in January’s ToalsBet.com County Antrim Shield final against Carrick Rangers.
“It is about building on the confidence and the momentum in the football club and the players,” Magilton added.
“We have a more settled team now and that is important in selection and players coming off the bench have to add worth and value.
“We won the game and we have to build on that coming into December when we have a lot of games.”
Coleraine boss Ruaidhrí Higgins said he is pleased his team are back in action in that top of the table clash on Tuesday night in a bid to get Saturday’s defeat “out of our system”.
The former Derry City boss added: “I am glad because we have an opportunity to try and bounce back straight away.
“We need to recover really well over the next couple of days and get ready to play a good side who are having a brilliant season.
“We will be going all out to at home to get the three points.”
As for the display at Solitude, he said: “We are obviously extremely disappointed.
“In the second half we had majority of the play, got into countless good areas over and over again and lacked quality when we got into the final third.
“We have outstanding footballers, but we probably had too many who weren’t at their best. Hence the reason we are going away from Solitude with no points.”
Portadown had a vital 2-1 win at Carrick Rangers in the battle for safety, a victory that puts 13 points between Niall Currie’s side and basement club Glenavon.
Ben Wylie opened broke the deadlock just after the break, Jack Scott equalised with a penalty following a foul by Divin Isamala on Ryan Waide before Eamon Fyfe headed a 68th minute winner.
Ports boss Niall Currie felt his side were good value for the three points.
“We knew it was going to be a very difficult day whenever you come to Carrick, and I’ve got to make sure that you win your individual battles and you have to go toe-to- toe with them.
“They are a big, strong, physical team with quality and championship winners, so I’m very proud of my players. To a man they were top drawer, and overall, we deserved to win the game, and I can’t praise the players highly enough.
“We had a difficult run of games. We’ve had Bangor, now Carrick, and these are the 50/50 games, and today was one, and we showed a real heart and aggression and all the things you need to win a football match.”
Carrick manager Stephen Baxter was angry that a late effort by Danny Gibson was ruled out for off-side.
“When you pile the pressure on and you go into a crowded box and have every single player in the box and that ball comes in and we score off the second ball, I’ll need to see that back, because in a crowded box I can’t see how you get an offside in that,” he said.
“If the linesman has got that right from that distance fair play to him, he must have great eyes.
“I thought both teams shut each other out in many ways. I felt we probably had the better of the first half, certainly territorially, and we spent more time in their half.
“We got into good positions and had them under pressure without really creating a lot or causing much threat.
“In the second half, they had a 15-minute spell when they started getting in and around our box, put a bit of pressure on and then got the goal.
“They caught us high up the pitch and broke to score. We got back into the game quickly with the penalty, but it was naïve on our part not to be tight enough to the wide man and to allow the cross in for their second. That was disappointing.”
Matthew Fitzpatrick’s second-half goal edged Linfield to a 1-0 win at Bangor.
David Healy’s side – who host Crusaders on Tuesday night – move are eight points off the pace with three matches in hand.
Portadown won 2-1 at Carrick, while Ballymena United drew 2-2 at home to Crusaders.
Glentoran slumped to a 1-0 defeat against Dungannon at the Oval on Friday night.
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
@2025 The Irish News Ltd