IT’S THE OLD SEAN-TWO

Magical Moore’s combination delivers a possible knockout blow to Glens’ hopes

TEENAGE sensation Sean Moore lit up Solitude with a brilliant brace yesterday as Cliftonville picked up a huge three points in the title race.

For Glentoran, the first defeat of Rodney McAree’s (below) reign has left them with it all to do if they’re to feature in the Gibson Cup shake-up.

The Reds took the fight to the visitors from the off and their enterprising start paid off in the 11th minute. Glentoran afforded Moore too much space just outside the area and he made them pay in ruthless fashion, swapping passes withRoryHale before sweeping a brilliant left-foot finish past keeper Aaron McCarey from 22 yards out.

The Glens almost hit back straight away when Conor McMenamin played in Niall McGinn down the left channel but Nathan Gartside made an excellent save to deny the Northern Ireland winger.

Shay McCartan was next to go close for the visitors just past the half hour as he swivelled on a loose ball in the box only to fire wide from six yards out.

The irrepressible Moore then showed his elders how it’s done once more in the 34th minute as he again punished slack Glentoran defending.

Luke McCullough’s weak challenge failed to deter the 17-year-old, who cracked a right-foot shot past McCarey after the ball bounced back into his path 15 yards from goal.

McAree responded by immediately sending on Junior Uzokwe for Ruaidhri Donnelly and the attacker came within inches of scoring with his first touch, clipping the outside of the post from a tight angle.

Five minutes into the second half, the deficit was halved. The lively Junior backed himself by burrowing into the heart of the home defence and the ball broke to Terry Devlin who lifted a first-time finish into the roof of the net from 12 yards out.

Back came the Reds though, with Moore denied his hat-trick goal as Marcus Kane and McCarey just about squeezed the winger out after he’d been found by a wonderful cross-field pass from Colin Coates.

The home side then got away with an uncertain moment at the back as McMenamin sprinted onto a ball over the top and Gartside found himself in no-man’s land but the Glentoran star’s attempted lob was clawed away by the relieved keeper.

Glentoran continued to knock on the door, with Junior hooking a volley over from 10 yards but the streetwise Solitude men, marshalled by the superb Coates, ran down the clock to claim a crucial victory.