European boost but Cliftonville's Jim Magilton 'extremely disappointed, angry and upset'

Victory at The Showgrounds would have cemented a summer passage into Europe for the Irish Cup finalists – a reward later rubber-stamped by the evening draw between Glentoran and Linfield.

Magilton’s afternoon frustration centred on watching his side move clear by 2-0 thanks to Paddy Burns and Rory Hale only to surrender the advantage off the Bannsiders’ second-half fightback.

“I’m extremely disappointed, angry and upset,” said Magilton on the official Cliftonville website. “From being in total control of the game to not really producing anywhere near the standards in the second half was extremely disappointing.

"We’ve given away two really poor goals and allowed a team back into a game that should have been dead and buried.”

Matthew Shevlin cut the gap and the equaliser arrived as Jamie Glackin’s left-wing delivery into the box created problems for Cliftonville goalkeeper David Odumosu due to the difficult conditions.

Magilton refused to offer his players any allowance and instead centred on a second-half display he viewed as “passive” despite the high stakes involved.

“Conditions played their part but so what?,” he said. “You have to play the conditions.

"It was just our general play in the second half wasn’t anywhere near the levels we’ve set.

"That was disappointing because I felt that, coming in at 2-0 up at half-time, if we put our foot on the accelerator, we can go on and win the game, take the three points and go up the road with European qualification secured.

“So I’m extremely disappointed that hasn’t happened. It wasn’t good enough in the second half when we gave ourselves a lovely cushion to go and win the game but we didn’t take it.

“If you’re 2-0 up in any game, you should see it out. We should be in control of the game.

"We understand there’s going to be a reaction from the opposition, but we were so passive in the second half and that’s what really upset me. We didn’t smell the opportunity to go on and win the game outright.”