19.8.00

Match report:

Cliftonville V Coleraine

Cliftonville 1
(C. Scannell)

Coleraine 1
(Tolan)

        Cliftonville threw away all three points to settle for just the one as ex-Cliftonville player Jody Tolan who had been recently signed by ex-manager Marty Quinn scored in the dying minutes to deny Cliftonville their first win of the season,- throwing away another lead, twice in succesive games.

         The brotherly connection was evident in Cliftonvilles' goal, as defender Ronan Scannells' corner was played to foward Chris, and his low right foot shot bypassed two Coleraine defenders and all the keeper could do was palm the powerful shot into the net as Cliftonville took a 1-0 lead after 21 minutes. A dour first half besides' the goal, apart from Scannells attempt at goal in the 42nd minute was all that would want to be remembered from it.

        Even pressure from both sides, with new signing Ian McCossh playing well along with ex-Reds and crowd favourite Tolan. It was this combination which led to the killer equaliser goal late into the game. 89 minutes registered on the clock, when Ian McCossh's pinpoint cross was expertly placed onto Jody Tolans head as he dived to make it 1-1. Cliftonville could have taken all three points deep into injury time at Solitude as the fans were leaving, but damien Daveys header was cleared off the line by Oliver McAuley. Two points dropped.

       The final whistle blew as yet again for the second week in a row, Cliftonville threw away the lead in the dying minutes. So far encouring performances, in which Cliftonville took a 2-0 lead against Ballymena and lost it with 20 minutes to go. Next match against North Belfast rivals' Crusaders at Seaview will leave us in a nice position to set us up, as we try to progress up the league table towards a decent finish to the season.

Cliftonville:
Ingham, Fleming, R.Scannell, Small, Davey, O'Kane, Rooney, Collins, C.Scannell, McCallion, Donnelly, Subs: McCluckey, Murray, Clarke

Coleraine: McKeown, Clanachan, McAuley, Gaston, Devine, McLoughlin, Gray, McCoosh, Tolan, McCann, Keegan. Subs: Stewart, Dallas, Kerr

Referee: L.Irvine (Limavady)