IRISH LEAGUE: Mayse makes his mark in landmark Ballinamallard win over Cliftonville

Ryan Mayse’s finish on 57 minutes - his second goal in as many weeks - settled the match, alongside a superb penalty save by Richard Brush,

“We rode our luck a little,” said Ballinamallard manager Gavin Dykes. “They bossed the game but our work-rate and endeavour were excellent.

“We concentrate on what we are trying to do ourselves, we’re building and it’s nice to have a couple of clean sheets.

“We work very hard, it’s positive, it’s nice to beat Cliftonville, but it’s gone, it’s over and it’s three points and we move on.

The goal was well worked - with Shane McGinty shaking off two defenders as he ran through the middle before slipping a neat ball into the path of the supporting Mayse, who shot low into the far corner.

“I felt we deserved more,” said Cliftonville boss Gerard Lyttle, who also confirmed striker Davy McDaid is set to leave the club. “I felt our luck was out, I felt we should have had a penalty in the first half and some of the decisions were baffling.

“We started playing and putting them under pressure when we went a goal down and we can’t afford to do that, we need to be putting them under pressure much quicker than that.

“We’re very disappointed, overall, they had one chance and they scored.

“We didn’t start as well as we expected, we weren’t ruthless enough and we’ve missed six penalties this year, many at crucial times.”

Brush produced a penalty stop to deny Daniel Hughes from the spot.

Cliftonville’s problems increased when, in the six minutes of injury-time, Cliftonville had Chris Ramsey sent off for a second yellow.