Jim Magilton hails Cliftonville spirit as Reds book place in County Antrim Shield final after victory over Ballymena
Cliftonville produced a stirring second-half display to overturn a half-time deficit and book their place in the County Antrim Shield final with a commanding 4-1 victory over Ballymena United at the Showgrounds on Tuesday night.
The home side struck first as Success Edogun fired Ballymena in front just before the interval, capitalising on a long ball to finish neatly into the corner.
Earlier, Cliftonville’s Joe Gormley had a goal ruled out for offside, and Ballymena goalkeeper Declan Breen was called into action to deny Rory Hale and Keevan Hawthorne, while Matthew Clarke struck the post for United.
Cliftonville emerged revitalised after the break and wasted no time in restoring parity, with Jack Keaney heading home from a set piece just two minutes into the second half.
The Reds then seized momentum, and with 20 minutes left on the clock, Gormley made amends for his earlier disappointment by netting his 301st goal for the club to put the visitors ahead.
Hale extended Cliftonville’s lead with a well-taken effort in the 79th minute, before Keaney rounded off a comprehensive victory by sweeping home a free-kick late on to secure his second of the night.
Cliftonville progress to January’s final, where they will face Carrick Rangers, who edged out Larne on penalties in last week’s first semi-final.
Reds boss Jim Magilton was full of praise for his side afterwards and felt Cliftonville showed their character to fight back after falling behind.
“This is notoriously a really difficult place to come,” Magilton told the club’s official website.
“They put you under lots of pressure but I just thought we controlled the flow right from the first minute of the game, albeit we gave up two opportunities and could have been 2-0 down but we kept our belief and kept passing the ball and created opportunities, which was great.
“To win in the manner in which we won is really satisfying, so the players deserve all the credit.
“Given the quality they have, you can’t switch off but we did switch off and we got punished, so that was a lesson learnt.
“Half-time was just about reassuring the players to keep doing what they’re doing but just have a little bit more belief in the final third – and we did that,” he added.
“The strength of our game was being able to keep the ball and pass the ball while nullifying their threats and I thought we were outstanding in terms of how we went about our business and to win a semi-final in the manner in which we did is wonderful.”