Jim Magilton admits Cliftonville 'were our own worst enemy' during maiden Premiership defeat to Glentoran
Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton believes his side “were our own worst enemy” as they missed the chance to go level on points with league leaders Linfield after suffering their maiden league defeat of the season against Glentoran.
Jordan Jenkins’ second minute wonder strike ultimately proved the difference on the scoreboard, but the hosts could – and probably should – have been out of sight with goalkeeper David Odumosu called into action on a number of occasions, making two fine saves from David Fisher efforts.
At the other end of the pitch, a Reds side adapting to life without summer departures Ronan Hale, Ben Wilson and Sam Ashford failed to find the final piece of quality to trouble the Glens defence, firing a blank for the first time this season at The Oval on Saturday afternoon.
Magilton’s men developed a reputation for their stingy defence last term and that hasn’t changed, conceding only three times in five matches, but while they’d netted 12 at the same stage in 2023/24, this time the goals scored column sits at five – a dip perhaps to be expected when they’ve lost the aforementioned trio who combined for 38 of 80 league strikes.
However, the former Northern Ireland international isn’t interested in reflecting on what has been and gone – his sole focus is on improving the squad he has after making three further additions on deadline day.
"It’ll take players time to gel in but I’m not interested in talking about what’s gone – I’m only interested in what’s happening now and my only interest is to try and make these lads better,” he said. "They have to understand the levels required to one play in the team, and two to win football matches.
"(The defeat is) extremely frustrating. It was a chance to go joint-top and we didn’t take the opportunity.
"It was a fantastic goal early on and we’d plenty of time to get back in the game. I thought we were below our standards in the first-half and didn’t play with any real zip or energy.
"We made changes to try and give us more impetus. It gave us a wee lift and we had a few opportunities, but we were our own worst enemy today and give the ball away cheaply so many times and handed opportunities to Glentoran – on another day they take them and the game is over. We were still in with a shout right up until the death but we didn’t do enough.”