Danske Bank Premiership: Cliftonville 1 Glentoran 0
The Northern Ireland Football League has requested an "urgent" meeting with the Stormont executive as the future of the local game is at risk, its chairman Gerard Lawlor has said.
The Irish League was thrown into chaos on Friday evening when mixed messages were given by politicians about the attendance of fans at matches, just hours before the Danske Bank Premiership opener between Coleraine and Ballymena United.
While all Premiership games over the weekend went ahead with a limited number of fans in attendance, Lawlor says the issue is now one of survival for many local clubs.
"If this is the line our government needs to go down, we need financial help for all of our 12 clubs or else we will come to around Christmas time and a number of those clubs will be out of business. It's that simple," the Cliftonville chairman said.
"The NIFL board has set out from the start of this pandemic to say we can't put pressure on government ministers and be irresponsible to get people into grounds. That would just be ludicrous. What we are saying is, if we aren't getting people into grounds the future of the game is at risk.”
Reds manager Paddy McLaughlin agreed with Lawlor and said the confusion over the attendance of fans didn’t help with his side’s preparation for their season curtain-raiser at home to Glentoran.
“We are definitely in a precarious place,” McLaughlin said after the Reds’ 1-0 victory at Solitude.
“The league is built on supporters. All the expenses, all the wages, they still have to be paid, that doesn’t change, but if there’s no money coming in, how do you pay the bills? Bar the couple of clubs who have a big money backer, every club is in difficulty. We need some kind of support.
“What happened on Friday, it was stuck in the back of your head. Players feed off the energy of supporters and we were always hopeful we could get some fans in. But then there was the uncertainty: some fans were getting in, then they weren’t, then they were again. But the boys remained focused on the game and once the whistle blew it was great to be back playing.”
On the pitch on Saturday, it was Ryan Curran who came up with the goods late on to sink 10-man Glentoran at Solitude.
Having had an earlier effort disallowed for offside, Curran kept his cool to put a composed finish beyond goalkeeper Dayle Coleing with four minutes left on the clock. Just minutes earlier, Glens substitute Cameron Stewart’s received two quick-fire bookings for separate challenges leaving Mick McDermott’s men with their backs to the wall.
It was a cagey start to the season from two sides who are expected to challenge at the top end of the table and McLaughlin admitted he had to make his own impact at half-time.
“It was a typical opening day game, you don’t want to lose, but we tried to encourage the players to go out and win it,” he added.
“The players weren’t doing enough in the first-half to win it and I told them that. In fairness, we won the ball higher up the pitch in the second-half, we got bodies forward, created more chances and I’m delighted the boys responded the way they did.”
While McLaughlin acknowledged the sending-off of Stewart had an impact on the finish to the game, he insists the tide had already turned in Cliftonville’s favour: “For 10-15 minutes before the sending-off, the momentum had swung in our favour.
“We changed the nature of the game. Certainly, the numerical advantage helps and it gives you that extra bit of energy, but we were on the front foot anyway.”
Also on Saturday, champions Linfield opened their title defence with a 5-1 hammering of Carrick Rangers.
Danske Bank Premiership
Results
Saturday, October 17: Cliftonville 1 Glentoran 0, Larne 3 Dungannon Swifts 0, Linfield 5 Carrick Rangers 1, Warrenpoint Town 0 Crusaders 1, Glenavon 2 Portadown 4
Fixtures
Friday, October 23 (7.45pm): Crusaders v Cliftonville
Saturday, October 24 (3pm): Carrick Rangers v Larne, Dungannon Swifts v Warrenpoint Town, Glentoran v Glenavon, Portadown v Coleraine; (5.30pm): Ballymena United v Linfield
