JBE League Cup semi-final: Warrenpoint Town 0 Cliftonville 1
(after extra-time)
LEAGUE CUP holders Cliftonville made it through to their fourth final in-a-row with a hard fought extra-time win over nine-man Warrenpoint Town at Milltown on Tuesday night.
Jay Donnelly’s goal early in the first period of extra-time was enough for Gerard Lyttle’s men to scrape home in tough conditions.
It was Barry Gray’s side who had the opening opportunity of the half when Mark Hughes curled a corner in from the right which midfielder Conor McDonald met at the front post but he could only direct his header well wide of the upright.
Cliftonville’s best chance of the first 45 minutes arrived shortly after the half hour. Awarded a free-kick on the left , Liam Bagnall whipped it into the box and as Daniel Hughes got a glancing header on it, Conor Devlin was equal to the striker’s effort as he pushed it over the bar for a corner.
It was left until 41 minutes for the most clear-cut chance of the opening period to arrive and it fell to the Belfast side who really should have taken a 1-0 lead into the break. Cosgrove did superbly down the right hand side, getting past Mark Hughes and to the byline before picking out Stephen Garrett with a precise low cross.
However, with Jonny Parr caught at his front post, Garrett contrived to miss his kick from six yards and David McDaid couldn’t react quickly enough to poke home as the ball flew across the Warrenpoint box.
The opening chance of the second period fell to the home side when Sean Donnelly jinked his way to the edge of the Cliftonville area and when he unleashed a stinging shot from 18 yards, Jaimie McGovern produced a superb diving block to stop the goalbound shot from hitting the target.
As the half wore on, Warrenpoint grabbed more of a foothold, but it was Cliftonville who were next to go close when James Knowles’s speculative cross from the right clipped the top of the crossbar before being hacked clear.
With just over a quarter of an hour to go, Stephen Murray found himself clean through on goal down the left following Daniel Hughes’s through ball, but the striker’s shot was weak and straight at Devlin.
The ’Point suffered a blow on 78 minutes when they were reduced to 10 men for the second match in succession with Mark Clarke shown a second yellow for a foul on Knowles and referee Arnold Hunter had no option but to produce the red card as the game headed towards extra-time.
It took just a minute and 40 seconds of the first period of extra-time for Cliftonville to get their goal when Garrett crossed from the left and sub Jay Donnelly found himself unmarked to volley home superbly from eight yards.
Liam Bagnall was then shown a second yellow card for Warrenpoint late into the second period of extra-time, following his manager Barry Gray who had been sent to the stands as the home side’s hope of levelling evaporated.
The Reds will meet Ards in the final after the Championship One side came back from the dead to overcome Coleraine in a penalty shoot-out.
MATCH STATS
Warrenpoint Town: Parr, McDonald, M Hughes (Kierans 105), Clarke, S Donnelly (McGuigan 77), McVeigh, S Murray, D Hughes, Dane, Bagnall, Boyle; Subs not used: Rooney, Smith, Shanahan
Cliftonville: Devlin, McGovern, Ives, Knowles, Curran (M Murray 69), McDaid, Garrett, M Donnelly (J Donnelly 59), Catney, Cosgrove. Subs not used: McMullan, Brennan, McMurray
Referee: Arnold Hunter (Maguiresbridge)
