Teenage sensation Sean Moore bags brace as Cliftonville end Glentoran's unbeaten run under Rodney McAree

​The teenage sensation netted twice in the first half to keep Paddy McLaughlin's side just six points behind leaders Larne.

The Glens had hit the post in the first half through Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe and halved the deficit just five minutes after the restart through Terry Devlin's close-range finish, but the visitors never looked like salvaging anything from the contest as Rodney McAree suffered his first defeat as manager.

After losing out to Larne last weekend, McLaughlin knew the importance of returning to winning ways as the race for the Gibson Cup heats up.

"We definitely got a response and the challenge to the players was that good sides bounce back straight away and they don't dwell on things," said the Reds boss.

"The boys trained well all week, I had a good feeling heading into the game, especially at home as we've been incredible this year and last year at Solitude.

"Our energy levels and performances have been superb and you saw that with the response of the crowd as Solitude was sold out.

"They're not coming to watch a bad side, they are coming to watch a top side who works their socks off and have pride in the jersey.

"The supporters were brilliant and fair play to Glentoran who had a full house down at their end.

"The two sides went at it but our boys were superb from the first minute to the last.

"Usually there's a spell where we've dipped our form or let it go for a short period of time in a game, but I thought we were excellent for 90 minutes."

The Reds have let two goal leads slip on numerous occasions throughout the campaign, however, McLaughlin was full of praise for centre-half pairing Jonny Addis and Colin Coates for preserving all three points.

"Jonny and Colin were excellent as the two senior pros alongside Chris Gallagher, Joe Gormley and Aaron Traynor," he continued.

"They were playing against one of the best front lines in the country and they were playing against lively players who are direct and can get at you.

"We had them told during the week that they had to be at the top of their game and they performed to that.

"After conceding, the game can go one or two ways as we could lose control completely or regain our composure and control most of the game which I felt we did.

"We kept Glentoran in front of us, they didn't get behind us which was important as we know they are very strong in wide areas.

"The two boys held things well together and that's probably the best performance they've produced as a partnership.

"If they play like that for the rest of the season, we will keep plenty of clean sheets and nullify the threat going against us."

Cliftonville have a break until March 4 when they will be in Irish Cup action against Dungannon Swifts. They take on Crusaders in their next league match on March 13.