Danske Bank Premiership: Portadown 1 Cliftonville 2
CLIFTONVILLE may be hot on the tails of Glentoran at the top of the Danske Bank Premiership and Portadown may have not a single point to show from their efforts to date, but Saturday’s victory at Shamrock Park was far from a comfortable affair for the north Belfast Reds, and Paddy McLaughlin is happy to admit it.
Rory Hale got the visitors off to the perfect start on a rain-soaked afternoon, rifling a fine finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the box after only three minutes. When Ryan Curran made it two on 25 minutes with a poacher’s goal from a corner-kick, Cliftonville looked like they had the win already in the bag.
However, Jordan Jenkins pulled one back for the Ports less than two minutes later and had Cliftonville under the cosh for the remainder of the half. While McLaughlin’s men regained a measure of control after the break, grabbing a first goal from open play of the season had given the hosts an unmistakable boost in confidence.
“I’m delighted to get out with the win,” McLaughlin said afterwards.
“Portadown pushed us to the last minute of the game. When we went 2-0 up, we were thinking that, if we scored the next goal, the game is over, but credit to Portadown because they recovered well.
“In the second-half, we’d two or three great chances and they made some good blocks, tackles and it was last-ditch stuff. On another day, we’d have scored more but also on another day, we could have drawn the game.
“We came out of the blocks flying and, up until we conceded, I thought it was a really strong performance. Our ratio of the chances that we are creating to what we are taking, if we could improve that it would be a lot more comfortable.
“We do create so many chances and our forward play has really been super so far this season. We are creating loads of chances and our front men are lively. They are always chipping in with goals.”
Cliftonville have averaged more than two goals per game in their five league games so far this season, but they are also yet to keep a clean sheet, and McLaughlin is determined to get as close as possible to perfection at both ends of the pitch.
“I think if we were more ruthless – we definitely have to be more ruthless defensively – but if we’re more ruthless at the top end with the chances we’re creating, we can be a strong force this year,” the Derry man added.
“Sometimes, you need to grind out ugly goals as well as the nicer ones. Ronan’s was good build up play and a good finish, whereas Currany’s was more grinding it out, keeping the ball in the 18-yard box, so there was a bit of both sides there.
“I’ve been a bit sore on our defensive unit – not the defenders but us as a defensive block – about not keeping a clean sheet now in five games and they’ll hear about it again on Monday night because it’s important we keep pushing for clean sheets. We were very good at it last year and it’s important we get back to that.”
Elsewhere on Saturday, Glentoran returned to the top of the table with three second-half goals against Newry City at the Oval. Bobby Burns, Ally Roy and Paddy McClean did the business for the Glens, who leapfrogged Coleraine at the summit.
Linfield returned to winning ways at the Showgrounds with a 4-0 win over Ballymena, while Andy Mitchell and Curtis Allen both hit screamers for Carrick Rangers as they played out a 2-2 draw with Glenavon.
