Danske Bank Premiership: Warrenpoint Town 1 Cliftonville 5
CLIFTONVILLE manager Paddy McLaughlin believes basement club Warrenpoint were lucky to escape with the hiding they did as his side ran rampant at Milltown on Saturday.
The Reds are now up to second in the Danske Bank Premiership table, while Town are plonked firmly at its foot, having shipped 17 goals in four defeats out of their four played to date.
A Ruaidhrí Donnelly double, a 30-yeard bullet from Liam Bagnall, a Conor McMenamin header and the customary Joe Gormley strike assured Cliftonville of a thumping victory, while Alan O’Sullivan managed to muster a solitary replay for Warrenpoint from the penalty spot.
However, McLaughlin says the north Belfast men could’ve hit double figures if they had taken all the chances they were presented with.
“The performance was top drawer, it’s as good as they’ve played in my time there,” the Reds boss said.
“First-half, our play going forward was excellent, we just lacked that wee killer instinct in front of goal because we created four or five great chances after we scored [the first goal] and, on another day, it probably could’ve been a heavier defeat for Warrenpoint than it was.
“But we had a word with the boys at half-time, just telling them to be a bit more ruthless in front of goal and they done that in the second-half. Everything they created in the second-half, they scored so it was a good performance, especially our forward play and our forwards, they were excellent on the day.”
While Cliftonville’s attacking line-up has been frequently lauded in recent times for their devastating performances, McLaughlin insists it must be backed up with hard work.
“If you look at the quality we have at the front end of the pitch, it’s as good as there is in the league, but you’ve got to still perform,” he added.
“It’s not a matter of just turning up and hoping things are going to go your way, you’ve got to work hard for the team as well as score goals. But they’ve been doing that for a while and if they can maintain that standard right throughout the season, we’ll be doing really well.”
Cliftonville host champions Linfield this Saturday and McLaughlin knows his side will have to be at their very best to get a result against the Blues after their European heroics.
“They don’t come any tougher than against Linfield. Everybody keeps an eye out to see when they’re playing them because they’re the champions of the division and rightly so,” the Derry man said.
“They’ve done brilliant in Europe too over the course of the summer and they were so close to almost creating history in qualifying for the [Europa League] group stages.
“We know ourselves that anybody who takes anything away from a Linfield game in terms of points, you’ve got to be on top of your game, but we’re more than capable of doing that.”
Also on Saturday, Crusaders continued their near perfect start to the season with a 3-0 home win over Dungannon Swifts. Philip Lowry scored twice while Billy Joe Burns hit the target to inflict a first defeat of the season on the Tyrone men.
