Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton hailed goalkeeper PJ Morrison for showing “great courage” to play a key part in Saturday’s 3-1 Premiership win over Portadown.

The Scottish shot-stopper passed a “late fitness test” amid concern over a rib injury – Morrison was forced off after 50 minutes of Cliftonville’s last league match against Dungannon Swifts with 16-year-old Matthew Belshaw making his Premiership debut.

Morrison was named in the Reds’ starting line-up on Saturday and showed his class by producing a fine save to deny Eamon Fyfe from firing in a first half equaliser when the score sat at 1-0.

In April, Morrison signed a contract extension with Cliftonville to remain at Solitude until 2028, and has been a top performer under Magilton since joining from Alloa Athletic ahead of last season.

placeholder image — Cliftonville’s Brian Healy scored twice in Saturday's 3-1 win over Portadown. (Photo by INPHO/Jonathan Porter)

“A magnificent save,” reflected Magilton on the club’s website. “He had a late fitness test and showed great courage today.

“Anyone that has ever suffered a rib injury will surely testify that it’s pretty sore, so he had to be ready for the game.

"He wanted to play, that showed great determination and it was a magnificent save I have to say, a fantastic save.”

Brian Healy opened his goal account for the season by netting a brace against the Ports while Ben Quinn returned to haunt his former club – the 21-year-old joined Cliftonville from the Co Armagh side this summer.

Fyfe struck what proved to be a consolation after 65 minutes and Magilton was happy to see his side bounce back from their previous loss to Dungannon.

“I’m delighted that Brian scored two goals, two fantastic goals,” he added. “Both goals came from great passes from (Dean) McMaster, Brian’s shown great strength and great composure and two fantastic finishes.

“Then Ben Quinn’s scored another good goal and, had we been a little bit more clinical and ruthless, we could have scored more.

“It’s a big three points for us, largely because of last week.

"We had a really good opportunity in midweek to get players minutes and going into this game was all about the three points.

“You always want to play well and always want to show a real attacking threat, and I thought for large parts, we did that and probably should have scored more and made the game more comfortable.

“At 3-0, we’ve one or two opportunities to really kill the game off and we gave up a really poor goal, which gives Portadown a little bit more belief.

"For that little hairy-scary five minutes, they created a few more opportunities but overall, I’m really pleased.”