Paddy McLaughlin delighted with response from Cliftonville

Paddy McLaughlin was full of praise for his Cliftonville players following their response to last week’s defeat at Linfield.
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The Reds slipped to only their second league defeat of the season at Windsor Park last Saturday before heading to Coleraine for another tricky test at the weekend.

But the Danske Bank Premiership leaders produced a strong display against their title challengers to come away with a deserved point in the end.

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“The league is so competitive and there will be a lot of points dropped along the way with draws and defeats,” said McLaughlin.

Cliftonville boss Paddy McLaughlinCliftonville boss Paddy McLaughlin
Cliftonville boss Paddy McLaughlin

“It’s a tough, tough league and you can’t dwell on bad results because the next team coming behind you won’t care.

“It was a brilliant response from our boys, they trained well all week and were disappointed by the result because there were spells we played very well against Linfield.

“Throughout the game today I thought we were excellent. We defended well when we had to, controlled a lot of the play in the middle of the park and I thought our midfielders were superb.

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“We just lacked that final pass or delivery in the final third to provide a chance for Joe (Gormley) or Ryan (Curran).

“The two sides showed a lot of respect to each other as we both nullified key players.

“We came here to win as we were disappointed with last week as it took us to go behind to get back at it.

“We wanted to go at it today from the start, we played some brilliant football on a class surface and the boys enjoyed playing on it as it’s sharp and lively.

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“I thought our boys moved the ball brilliantly throughout the game as it’s a tough place to come.

“They are unbeaten at home for a reason, they’re a very good side who are well drilled and well organised.

“To come away with a point, we are happy enough.”

McLaughlin took the decision to throw in 21-year-old goalkeeper Luke McNicholas for his league debut, and the for Sligo Rovers man repaid him with a superb save to deny Matthew Shevlin in the first half.

“Luke’s been training really well, he’s in great shape and looks after himself really well,” said the Cliftonville boss.

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“Declan (Dunne) has been superb for us but I thought when we have the quality of the two, we are lucky to have two international goalkeepers.

“We probably have used Luke enough when you consider what he’s got and what he can bring to the table.

“He made an early error – probably due to nerves – but he recovered well to deny Shevlin.

“It was a good debut for him with a clean sheet away from home, so it was good to get him on the pitch.

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“It was no fault of Declan’s, we just want to keep the two stoppers fresh.

“We threw him in and it’s the same as rotating a defender, midfielder or striker as it keeps everyone fresh and on their toes.”