Cliftonville: Paddy McLaughlin’s Reds see off Warrenpoint Town thanks to Ryan Curran’s brace

Having kicked off life in the Cliftonville dugout with home success over Newry City AFC, McLaughlin hit the road and returned with an assured 2-0 success.

The first sight of goal arrived for Warrenpoint when, on five minutes, a loose ball dropped into the path of Alan O’Sullivan and the striker attempted to squeeze the ball home but Richard Brush raced out to block.

Chris Curran’s angled shot off a Ryan Curran pass was deflected just past the post.

Ryan Curran then displayed neat footwork to find space but the final shot proved wide as Cliftonville pushed on.

Danny Wallace had to be alert to clear off the Warrenpoint line following another Chris Curran cross, met by Conor McMenamin with a powerful goal-bound header.

Warrenpoint’s response featured a few Dean Watters drives from distance without any significant threat.

Play proved open across the opening exchanges of the second half, with a key sliding Garry Breen challenge blocking a dangerous Town counter-attack by O’Sullivan.

Berraat Turker dropped low to collect Aaron Harkin’s long-range drive.

Cliftonville’s increased pressure featured a key Simon Kelly interception then Turker save off Joe Gormley before Ryan Curran was rewarded for his performance with a spot on the scoresheet off slick footwork and a decisive finish.

Ryan Curran doubled his tally on 72 minutes with an angled drive to cap a flowing Cliftonville move.

WARRENPOINT TOWN: Turker, Foster, Kelly (Young, 76), Griffin, McGrandles, O’Sullivan (Duffy, 59), M.Lynch, Watters, Scannell (Hughes, 38), Wallace, Marques.

Subs (not used): Byrne, J.Lynch, Magowan.

CLIFTONVILLE: Brush, Breen, Grace, C.Curran, R.Curran, Harkin, Bagnall, McConnell (Catney, 78), Gormley (Garrett, 91), McMenamin, Gorman.

Subs (not used): Neeson, McGovern, Ives, Maguire, A.Donnelly.

Referee: Ian McNabb.