Jim Magilton hails 'unbelievable' courage of Cliftonville star after Reds extend unbeaten run with last-gasp equaliser against Glentoran

Casey, who also headed home in the dying seconds of a 1-0 league victory at Carrick Rangers on January 26, struck once again as Jim Magilton’s men recovered from a 2-0 half-time deficit to extend their unbeaten run to 14 matches across competitions.

It means the Solitude outfit now trail league leaders Linfield by four points and are just three adrift of reigning champions Larne with 11 games left to play.

After Aidan Wilson and Bobby Burns had handed Warren Feeney’s men a two-goal advantage at The Oval, Magilton made both formational and personnel changes at the break by altering his system to a back-four while Stephen Mallon was introduced off the bench.

It had almost an immediate impact as Ronan Hale’s moment of magic pulled one goal back before Casey struck in the 95th minute.

“The performance was night and day in terms of first-half, second-half,” Magilton told the club’s website. “Massive credit to Glentoran because they were excellent in the first-half, they didn’t give us a breath.

"We were poor, our passing was poor, ball retention was poor – there were so many things wrong with our first-half performance.

“One thing we’ve always managed to show is courage and we didn’t show enough of that. In the second-half, we changed the shape and we needed to pen them back, which we did.

"We showed our quality, we started to pass the ball and ask more questions of them. Then Ronan scores an absolutely magnificent goal and we kept going right to the end.

“Odhran Casey’s come up trumps again with a last-ditch header. His courage is just unbelievable.”

Just like in the pair’s previous Premiership meeting – which also ended 2-2 – Cliftonville were denied a goal through an offside call with Ronan Hale’s tap-in after Joe Gormley’s header had came back off the post ruled out with the ex-Peterborough United striker deemed to have made his run too early.

“It’s onside, Joe’s onside,” added Magilton. “Funnily enough, it’s the same linesman that gave the same decision at Solitude. That one was onside, Joe’s was onside and I thought it was a really poor decision.”

Having also scored in the 97th minute to secure three points against Newry City last month, Magilton’s men are starting to make a habit of striking late and the former Northern Ireland international praised his side’s “never-say-die” attitude.

“I’d like us to score in the first minute if I’m brutally honest!" he said. “What we have to do now is bottle that second-half performance in terms of just sheer guts, determination and a never-say-die attitude.

"There was more intensity in our play in comparison to the first-half, where a really good side really strangled us and I’m delighted with how we’ve turned it round.”