Danske Bank Premiership: Cliftonville 2 Glenavon 1
WHEN Ryan Curran struck his late, great winner against Glenavon on Saturday afternoon, it felt like the roar from Solitude would be heard right across Belfast in Windsor Park, and Cliftonville manager Paddy McLaughlin was certainly impressed with the noise levels generated.
The Reds were staring defeat in the face, and looked set to drop from first to fourth in the Irish League table, after a Declan Dunne mistake early in the second-half gifted Josh Doyle an easy finish past the Cliftonville ’keeper. However, Ryan Curran made himself the hero of the afternoon when he converted a cross from close range for the equaliser on 80 minutes and, just a minute later, expertly controlled a glorious Chris Curran pass to rifle home the winner on the half volley from a tight angle.
The win kept McLaughlin’s men a point ahead of Linfield at the top of the table and he couldn’t have been happier with the atmosphere at Solitude.
“That roar from the fans when Ryan’s second goal went in – I’ve never heard anything like it in Irish League football before,” said the Derry man yesterday.
“Saturday could have been one of those sad stories where the game slipped away from us for the second time in a week, but the fans wouldn’t let that happen, and it just goes to show what we’re capable of when we have them fully behind us.
“In fairness to Ryan Curran, he gave them plenty to cheer about – the accuracy of that second strike and the way he took it over his shoulder was just Ryan Curran all over. But the pass from Chris Curran was unbelievable as well, the composure and execution he demonstrated at a time when everyone’s blood was up was just outstanding.”
The Curran-inspired comeback wasn’t the end of the late drama on Saturday, as Glenavon thought they had levelled through Danny Wallace, only for it to be ruled out for offside while a furious Matthew Snoddy was red-carded for the nature of his protests. However, McLaughlin was more concerned about earlier decisions which had gone against Cliftonville.
“We actually had the ball in the back of the net four times in the second-half,” the Reds boss added.
“We scored four great goals, not two, but two of them were taken away from us. In the end, though, there was nothing made of it because we won the match.”
Elsewhere on Saturday, Linfield kept the pressure on Cliftonville as a double from substitute Matt Green followed Matthew Clarke's opener to give them a comfortable 3-0 home win over Dungannon Swifts.
Jonathan McMurray, Adam Lecky Paul Heatley and Ben Kennedy were all on target for Crusaders as they came out on the right side of a 4-2 thriller with Warrenpoint Town at Milltown, while Coleraine stay third in the table thanks to a 2-0 win over Portadown at Ballycastle Road. At the Showgrounds, a Mark Randall double helped Larne to a 3-0 win over hosts Ballymena United.
Cliftonville return to league action tomorrow night when they host Portadown, while Glentoran will travel to Inver Park to play Larne.
