Cliftonville will stay have their say in the fight for the Gibson Cup, says Linfield striker Matthew Fitzpatrick as Blues see off Ballymena United

The Blues again nudged to within one point of reigning champions Larne with a hard-fought win over a gutsy Ballymena United at Windsor Park on Saturday – on a day third-placed Cliftonville slumped to their second successive defeat.

Having suffered a home loss to David Healy’s men on Tuesday, the Reds were beaten by Dungannon Swifts, leaving them six points adrift of Tiernan Lynch’s table toppers.

Linfield certainly had to work for their three points. Second half goals from Kyle McClean and Fitzpatrick sealed the deal and, with now only seven games remaining, it sets them up for an intriguing finale to the campaign.

Fitzpatrick, however, believes the deflated Reds are still very much in the title equation.

“The Reds are too good to drop off the pace, they are a great side,” said the former Glenavon man. “They have been brilliant all season.

“It happened to us a few weeks back (a loss of form), we had a few bad results, and everything was doom and gloom. When you get a few wins on the bounce, people look at it differently.

“There are good teams in this League and any side can beat another, top or bottom, on any given day. The Reds will certainly have a say the rest of the season.”

Fitzpatrick was just relieved to get the job done against a team that belied their lowly position in the League table. United haven’t won a League game at the international venue now for 20 years.

“Ballymena were well set up, they frustrated us in the first half, although we had a few good chances that we didn’t take,” he added. In saying that, we had a bit of luck on our side when they hit the post.

“They got men behind the ball, which makes things difficult. We had to be patient at times. It was the same (against Cliftonville) on Tuesday night when we missed a few chances in the first half.

“At times you must be patient. With the quality we have in the team, especially in the final third, we know chances will come. As a striker, the pressure is then on me to take the chances.”

Although still marooned in 11th place in the League table, United boss Jim Ervin believes his team are showing the appetite required to keep them in the top-flight.

“Over the last two weeks, we’ve given the two teams at the top of the table a run for their money,” he said. “But for the second successive week, we’ve ended up empty handed.

“I’m sure if you look at Larne or Linfield’s wages bill there is a heck of a difference compared by ours, but on the pitch, there wasn’t that much of a difference between the teams, this week and last.

“We are having no luck at all at the minute. I thought our game plan was excellent in the first half, we restricted Linfield to very few chances; we got people behind the ball and broke quickly.

“We should really have been a goal up when Noah (Stewart) hit the post, how it stayed out, I don’t know. When you are at the bottom end of the table, those things don’t go for you.

“The boys must take a lot of credit from their performance over the past two weeks, and we’ll take the positives out of both games going forward, I can’t fault them for effort and commitment.”