Cliftonville boss Jim Magilton believes bench made big impact in Irish Cup success against Loughgall

​Joe Gormley sent the hosts into half-time with a 1-0 lead before Ronan and Rory Hale both scored in a three-minute blitz after the break which all but ended the tie.

That allowed Magilton to ring the changes with Kris Lowe making his first outing in three months after injury while Sam Ashford and Chris Curran were also introduced.

Rather than settle, Cliftonville pushed for a fourth which eventually came in the 81st minute as Ronan Hale grabbed his 15th in 18 appearances this season.

"The first-half I thought Loughgall were very good, played on the counter and looked very dangerous,” Magilton told BBC Sportsound. "We needed half-time to come to sort one or two things out.

"The second-half we really took the game to Loughgall and ran out comfortable winners but I'm not sure it (the scoreline) was a fair reflection of the overall game.

"We could make changes and the changes we made made a real difference in the game.

"It (two goals in three minutes) was very important, it settles nerves and settles people down.

"Again then it knocked the steam out of Loughgall...they'd set up so well and tactically I thought they were brilliant.

"Obviously scoring those goals gave us the impetus we wanted.”

Shea Gordon made a first start since joining from Larne and Magilton is pleased with his overall January transfer business, which also included signing Ben Wylie, Eric Yoro and Paddy Burns.

"I'm delighted with the people we've brought in, obviously we've lost some lads who've been brilliant for us,” he added. "So it's batten down the hatches now...we've got our squad together and we're getting people back.

"It was lovely to have Kris Lowe back and getting minutes, Stephen Mallon played.

"Ryan Curran is unfortunately still out...we're hopeful we'll get him before the end of the season."