Soccer

Cliftonville keep things ticking over with a win and transfer ins and outs

Jay Donnelly (left) scored the pick of Cliftonville's goals against Dungannon Swifts on Saturday
Jay Donnelly (left) scored the pick of Cliftonville's goals against Dungannon Swifts on Saturday Jay Donnelly (left) scored the pick of Cliftonville's goals against Dungannon Swifts on Saturday

Danske Bank Premiership: Cliftonville 3 Dungannon Swifts 0

JANUARY is a taxing month for many, and Cliftonville manager Barry Gray can’t wait until it’s over after a busy couple of days, both on and off the pitch at Solitude.

The Reds fired three second-half goals to neuter Dungannon Swifts on Saturday afternoon and, 24 hours after that win, the revolving doors at the club were still spinning. Making an exit was forward Daniel Hughes, who left to join Saturday’s vanquished opponents, while heading in the opposite direction was former Dundalk defender Shane Grimes.

“It’s been a busy couple of days, but the sooner the end of January comes, the better,” said the Cliftonville boss last night.

“I think that’ll be pretty much the height of what we’ll do, one way or another. Although generally, the minute you say something like that, the next two hours it all goes on its head, but we don’t have anything else in the pipeline.”

Gray has seen a lack of balance in the players at his disposal since the start of the season and is content with the reforms he has implemented so far: “I’ve said it since the summer, the squad and the type of players we have is completely unbalanced,” he added.

“We’ve done our best to try to rebalance the panel. Everyone was complaining at the start of the season about the amount of strikers we had, then all of a sudden you move one on and everyone’s complaining about moving one on.”

Gray previously managed Daniel Hughes at Warrenpoint Town and he has been up front about the limited opportunities he would have under his tenure.

“It’s quite clear, Daniel has played very little for us this season and going forward, we were open and honest about it, he wasn’t in my plans, that didn’t change, that’s my decision and it’s a purely footballing decision that we’ve let him go,” he said.

“It’s a good business move for us, it’s enabled us to rebalance the panel a wee bit more constructively than what it was previously and that’s the bottom line of it. We still have Rory [Donnelly] and Joe [Gormley] and Jay [Donnelly] and Stevie Garrett and we’ve young Daniel Reynolds there, so it doesn’t limit us in any fashion at all.”

If Saturday afternoon was anything to go by, the Reds do indeed have little to worry about when it comes to their options up front. After a goalless first-half, Cliftonville blew Dungannon away in the second period. Goals from Ross Lavery and Jay Donnelly were added to by a late own goal from Swifts’ Chris Hegarty, while a glut of other chances were squandered by the home side.

“There was a wee bit of disjointedness to us in the first-half, Rory and Joe I think had two good chances apiece, and maybe two of them didn’t even hit the flipping target,” said Gray.

“But when we settled, we could’ve scored seven or eight, to be honest. We made a couple of changes off the bench that massively influenced the game and where it was heading, but the end scoreline makes it look like it was a comfortable day for us. It probably wasn’t, but it’s three points, three good goals and on you move.”

Jay Donnelly’s effort was the pick of Saturday’s goals and his boss has the 22-year-old at the front and centre of his plans for the north Belfast club.

“Jay knows from the start of the season what his plans were under me,” Gray said.

“He played most of the game in midfield, until the last wee part where we gave Rory a rest and pushed Jay on up and that’s what you have in the tank and that’s what maybe goes to reinforce the reason why we don’t need another striker hanging around.”