A second half Ryan Curran goal gave Cliftonville a narrow victory in a closely fought Premiership encounter at Solitude.
The Glens got off to a flying start on the new, improved Solitude surface and just a couple of minutes in Jay Donnelly’s shot clipped the top of the crossbar from a Paddy McClean cross. The striker came close again a few minutes later, sending a header just wide from a wicked Hrvoje Plum cross. It took a while for Cliftonville to make their mark on the game, but Aaron McCarey easily dealt with efforts from Levi Ives and former Glens player Jamie McDonagh.
The Glens continued to look the more likely scorers and after half an hour Shay McCartan danced past a couple of defenders and brought a good save from Reds ‘keeper Declan Dunne. Soon afterwards Robbie McDaid and Jay Donnelly combined brilliantly to create another chance for Ruaidhri Donnelly but again Dunne did well to smother the chance.
Half time 0-0
The home side looked much sharper after the break with a dangerous McDonagh cross having to be cleared for a corner by McCarey and McDonagh himself shooting just wide from the resulting kick. At this stage the Glens were creating far fewer chances than in the first period, but Jay Donnelly was denied by a brilliant Jamie Harney challenge after Robbie McDaid had headed across goal. Both Donnelly brothers were winning numerous aerial battles against the Cliftonville back four but too often no one was available to pick up the second ball.
The decisive moment in the game came on 70 minutes. McCarey did well to push the ball clear from a Joe Gormley effort and even better to keep out McDonagh’s follow-up effort, but the rebound fell nicely for Ryan Curran who drove the ball low into the back of the net. A couple of minutes later Cliftonville had a chance to double their lead, but Gormley uncharacteristically pulled a great chance wide of the post.
This was to prove to be the last clear cut chance of the game. Mick McDermott tried to shake things up with ten minutes left, bringing on Gael Bigirimana, Ciaran O’Connor and Caolan Marron in a triple substitution, followed by Andrew Mitchell and a history making fifth substitute in Mal Smith. However, it was to no avail as the Reds held out comfortably to take the points on a disappointing afternoon for Glentoran.
Glentoran
Aaron McCarey, Rhys Marshall, Patrick McClean, Luke McCullough, Marcus Kane (sub Caolan Marron 79 mins), Bobby Burns, Hrvoje Plum (sub Mal Smith 88 mins), Shay McCartan (sub Gael Bigirimana 79 mins), Robbie McDaid, Jay Donnelly (sub Andrew Mitchell 84 mins), Ruaidhri Donnelly (sub Ciaran O’Connor 79 mins)
Photographs by PACEMAKER