Cliftonville delivered some dazzling football straight off the training pitch in Saturday’s slick 5-1 success over Loughgall – plus a touch of old-school tried-and-tested paths to goal.

Three goals inside eight first-half minutes cemented control for the Reds at Lakeview Park as Joe Gormley broke the deadlock to cap off a flowing multi-player passing move.

The second and third goals lacked the sparkle of the first but proved no less decisive after Kris Lowe latched on to Jonny Addis’ searching ball over the top from defence then the latter headed home a Ronan Doherty corner-kick.

Deadline-day signing Taylor Steven stepped off the sidelines to score two in the second half as Loughgall lost Tiarnan Kelly to a red card in the closing stages.

placeholder image — Cliftonville boss Jim Magilton. (Photo by Alan Weir/Pacemaker)

Cliftonville boss Jim Magilton was delighted with “getting out of the blocks” across the early stages.

"Everything we do is game-related, every session is game-related,” said the Reds manager. "We look at the qualities of the players and their individual strengths come together as a collective in our team.

"That movement was excellent and once he goes through one v one you always fancy Joe.

"Jonny Addis would suggest that was a wonderful pass and I can't disagree because he does it so often.

"To win away from home at any stage is huge for us but to win in the manner in which we won was great.

"We talked about starting quickly, it was a bit frenetic until we scored.

"Then when we scored I thought we took control of the game.

"Obviously the other two goals helped.

"At half-time you discuss the next goal - we were here last year and played so well the first half then conceded goals.

"Loughgall make it very difficult, Dean (Smith) sets his team up fantastically well and they all know their roles and responsibilities.

"So for us it was just about getting out of the blocks."

Cliftonville now share top spot in the table with Linfield ahead of the two sides clashing at Solitude on Tuesday night.

Magilton stands encouraged by the progress of his players, with the weekend win arriving following a blank fortnight in the aftermath of defeat to Glentoran.

"We had a really good vibe this week in training, a real competitive edge,” said Magilton, who offered constant guidance from the sidelines despite the commanding lead. "I think that complacency can set in at any time, we talk about it consistently, we talked about it a lot last season...they're just gentle reminders (talk from the sidelines).

"We had a few new bodies in, which always helps.

"Those two weeks offered a real opportunity to blood the lads and get them involved in the group, that came at the right time for us.

"They (the players) set the standards, we talk about it but the players have to go out and deliver.

"I thought they fell well short of the standards they set (against Glentoran) but today was an opportunity to come to a really difficult place, go out and express ourselves."