Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
NO SHAYNE NO GAIN
Lavery leaves it late but Blues take three points to keep chasing pack at arm’s length
SHAYNE LAVERY proved too hot to handle for Cliftonville at Windsor Park yesterday as Linfield’s patience finally paid off.
The bullish striker’s pace and power stretched the visitors’ defence from the off, with foul means often the only way they had of stopping the 22-year-old.
Having been hacked down twice early on, Lavery broke free for the first time in the 26th minute after Liam Bagnall’s tackle on Blues skipper Jamie Mulgrew (inset) fell kindly for him but his thumped shot was pawed away by Aaron McCarey.
The Reds keeper pulled off an even better save soon after as Niall Quinn’s free-kick found Mark Stafford’s head only for McCarey to plunge to his right and tip the ball wide.
Garry Breen was next to save the Reds’ bacon, blocking Jordan Stewart’s fierce strike that looked destined for the net.
Cliftonville were rocking so skipper Chris Curran – aided and abetted by Bagnall – wisely opted to turn the game into a bitty scrap until the break, when they could regroup.
The plan worked, to a point, as the champions struggled to regain their momentum until the hour mark approached and Joel Cooper weaved into the penalty area before slapping a shot at goal that McCarey tipped over. That pair duelled again soon after as the winger latched on to a wayward pass from Chris Curran before drilling a low shot at goal that took a slight nick off a defender, forcing
McCarey to save with his feet.
The goalkeeper came to the Reds rescue once again when Rory Hale gave away possession and
Lavery surged towards goal only to lose out in a one-on-one.
But the 29-yearold was finally beaten in the 73rd minute and it was no surprise to find Cooper and Lavery acting as partners in crime, the former whipping a brilliant cross in from the right for Lavery to nod home from close range.
The visitors lacked a creative spark all day but would have snatched an unlikely equaliser in the 87th minute only for an outstanding piece of recovery defending by Stafford. Paul O’Neill, who had been feeding on scraps, found himself bearing down on keeper Chris Johns and chose to slip the ball left for sub Barry Coffey to tap into the empty net but the veteran Blues defender make a brilliant goal-saving tackle.
Lavery then added the gloss for the champions with a sweet left-foot finish from the edge of the box after being picked out by Kirk Millar’s low cross from the right.