REDS RECLAIM LEADING ROLE

Cliftonville

Carrick Rangers 0

BY PHIL FINNEGAN CLIFTONVILLE returned to the top of the table with a comfortable win over Carrick Rangers at Solitude yesterday.

With Linfield having put the pressure on the Reds with their win over Larne on Friday night, the north Belfast men knew only three points would do for Christmas.

After a tepid opening quarter of an hour, the movement of the home side’s attacking trident of Joe Gormley, Ryan Curran and Paul O’Neill began to unstitch the visitors’ defence.

It took a beautifully clipped pass from Levi Ives to fully open the door on 17 minutes, with O’Neill chesting the ball down in the left before lifting a measured lob over Matthew Skeet.

The lead should have been doubled on the half hour mark when a dangerous cross from Jamie McDonagh found the head of Gormley for the umpteenth time this season, only for the Reds striker to break with tradition by nodding wide.

Gormley did have the ball in the net soon after, lashing home a bouncing ball only to be whistled for offside.

Still, Cliftonville were now playing with the

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confidence of league leaders. It was no surprise then when Curran made it 2-0 just before the break after right-back Conor McDermott dinked an inviting ball across goal and the forward pulled off a scissor kick in the six-yard box for his 15th goal of the season.

Gormley slammed a left-foot shot inches wide while at the other end, the visitors were struggling to create much. A sweetly struck shot by Alex Gawne whistled just over Luke McNicholas’s crossbar, letting the Reds know they were still in a game.

But Carrick blew their best chance of reeling in the Reds when Lloyd Anderson screwed a shot wide from 15 yards out in the 74th minute and they found themselves held at arms’ length for the remainder of the game.

And it could have been worse for the visitors but both Daniel Kearns and McDonagh failed to convert after a run and cross from Luke Turner.

EFFORT Ryan Curran has a shot at goal for Cliftonville