Cliftonville take one step closer to ending Irish Cup trophy wait as Jonny Addis and Ronan Hale strike in semi-final victory over Larne

Teams:

CLIFTONVILLE: Odumosu, Stewart, Addis, Rory Hale, Lowe, Doherty, Burns, Casey, Ronan Hale, Kearney, Wilson.

Subs: Gartside, Pepper, Kenny, Curran, Mallon, Gormley, Graham.

LARNE: Ferguson, Donnelly, Randall, Bonis, Ives, Bolger, Millar, Cosgrove, Gallagher, Ryan, Williams.

Subs: McAdams, Thomson, O’Neill, Westendorf, Glynn, Sloan, Orozco.

Referee: Chris Morrison.

FIRST HALF

3: Jonny Addis makes an important tackle after Cliftonville had lost possession in a dangerous position.

6: Levi Ives delivery into the box after Rory Hale brought down Chris Gallagher. Cian Bolger wins the initial header, but David Odumosu comes out to claim before Lee Bonis can sneak in.

25: First bright spark in a while as Ben Wilson slides in Sean Stewart down the left, the wing-back whips in a dangerous cross which Aaron Donnelly manages to divert over the crossbar.

29: Former Reds ace Gallagher has a shot from distance which is deflected off Rory Hale and well saved by Odumosu.

32: Shea Kearney cuts inside off the right – nutmegging a Larne defender on his way – and delivers a superb ball into the box. Ben Wilson cutting across the defender can’t get to the ball but wins a corner.

33: GOAL: JONNY ADDIS (CLIFTONVILLE). And from the corner comes the first goal! Rory Hale plays a smart one-two with Wilson and delivers straight onto the head of Addis. Looks like a training ground routine worked perfectly. 1-0 Cliftonville.

39: Tempers flare as Gallagher hacks down his ex-teammate Rory Hale. Brother Ronan Hale also goes into the book for his reaction.

45: Larne captain Cian Bolger is booked on the stroke of half-time and Andy Ryan follows soon after for a challenge on Kris Lowe.

HALF TIME: Cliftonville 1 – 0 Larne.

One substitution for Cliftonville at half-time as club captain Chris Curran replaces Kris Lowe, who fell awkwardly after a challenge just before the break.

SECOND HALF

49: Ronan Doherty takes the ball off Tomas Cosgrove but his pass to Wilson, who looked to be galloping into space, is just overhit and Ferguson claims.

53: Larne should be level! Wonderful corner from Levi Ives finds Ro-Shaun Williams in space, but the centre-back directs his header just past the far post.

54: Cliftonville assistant manager Gerard Lyttle is booked for his reaction to referee Chris Morrison awarding a free-kick to Larne following a challenge on Williams.

62: Rory Hale sends in a great free-kick delivery and Odhran Casey heads just over the crossbar. Close to making it 2-0.

65: Massive chance for Cliftonville! The Reds break and the ball finds its way to Curran, who runs into the box and crosses for Rory Hale. His first time effort goes agonisingly wide of the post.

67: Double substitution for Larne as Leroy Millar and Mark Randall are replaced by Joe Thomson and Dylan Sloan.

73: Huge blow for Larne as Levi Ives, who has been tremendous this season, is stretchered off with what appears to be an ankle injury after collision with Curran. He’s replaced by Micheal Glynn.

77: Substitution for Cliftonville as Joe Gormley replaces Ben Wilson.

82: Ronan Hale weaves his way into space and gets a shot away which is saved by a diving Ferguson and then Larne immediately break with an opportunity of their own. Joe Thomson bounds through on goal and his attempt hits the side netting. Larne fans thought it was in from their angle.

85: GOAL: RONAN HALE (CLIFTONVILLE). That should be game over! Ronan Hale has been a star of Cliftonville’s run to this stage and he grabs his goal. He’s played in by Gormley and rifles his effort beyond Ferguson. 2-0 Cliftonville.

90: Seven minutes added time.

90+3: Odumosu is called into action after Donnelly’s volley from the edge of the box looks destined for the bottom corner.

90+5: Cliftonville should have a third as Ronan Hale is played in behind and instead of passing to an unmarked Gormley to tap in, he shoots and it’s well saved by Ferguson. Gormley eventually gets the ball and his effort is cleared off the line by Williams.

90+6: Rory Hale is replaced by Stephen Mallon.

FULL TIME: Cliftonville 2 – 0 Larne.