Linfield and Cliftonville played out a hard-fought, cagey goalless draw at Solitude last night (Tuesday) – a point which kept the Blues at the top of the Sports Direct Premiership.
Having dropped two points against Portadown before losing to Larne on Saturday past, the Blues were making the short trip to north Belfast in search of a positive response. In one change to the team which played Larne, captain Jamie Mulgrew came into the side in place of the injured Darragh McBrien who dropped out of the squad.
Similar to Saturday’s first half against Larne, the first half at Solitude was not one to write home about in terms of clear-cut chances.
The closest either team came to scoring in the opening 45 minutes was when Cliftonville put together a neat string of passes down the right before Ronan Doherty found Reds’ talisman Joe Gormley in the middle – he got half a yard to have a swing at it but he fired over from a position he’s capable of scoring from.
Later, another dangerous Cliftonville move down the right wing ended with Shea Kearney’s dangerous cross going through the box untouched. Unsurprisingly, Gormley was the man lurking, and he was not far off getting his head on the end of it.
Linfield had a few early opportunities which Matthew Fitzpatrick got his head on the end of – the first of which was a tame header comfortably saved, and the second was blocked by Cliftonville defender Luke Conlan following a neat Linfield move and cross from Joel Cooper.
HT: Cliftonville 0-0 Linfield
The second half was a better spectacle that the first. Both teams had their chances. Cliftonville’s best opportunity came two minutes into the second half. Joe Gormley found space between Linfield’s defence and midfield before sliding Kris Lowe through goalside of Chris Shields, however the Reds’ midfielder lost composure and blasted well over from a great position.
The Cliftonville duo combined again a short time later during another dangerous break. The move started from a rare loose touch by Jamie Mulgrew, from which Joe Gormley was sent away inside the box. Euan East did brilliantly to stand up and prevent Gormley from shimmying past him, before getting a block in. Gormley then teed up Kris Lowe, however Linfield reacted well to get back and crowd the midfielder out. The Blues then won a tussle inside the box which allowed them to scramble the ball away.
In the main talking point of the match, Linfield had the ball in the back on the net seven minutes into the second half only for it to be chalked off for an offside offence. It came from a free-kick which was clipped into Matthew Fitzpatrick inside the box, and he was adjudged to have been offside when the ball came in, before getting back into an onside position. The linesman raised his flag instantly once Fitzpatrick made contact. His header down found Cooper who lashed a volley into the roof of the net, but it counted for nothing.
As the second half continued to ebb and flow, Cliftonville had another decent chance when Ronan Doherty’s free-kick from the left found defender Luke Conlan unmarked with a free header at goal, however he guided it straight down Chris Johns’ throat.
Linfield’s man in form Joel Cooper was withdrawn in the 57th minute due to him struggling with a knock on a night where things didn’t come off for him. He was replaced by Chris McKee who almost made an immediate impact, heading onto the roof of the net from a Kirk Millar cross within a minute of coming on.
Chris Johns made an excellent save to keep it 0-0 in the 66th minute when Cliftonville forward Ryan Curran swivelled sharply to unleash and well-struck shot which Johns reacted brilliantly to, to push the ball wide of the bottom corner in which it was otherwise destined for.
Back up the other end, Linfield had a good chance with around 20 minutes remaining. Chris McKee raced down the right to fizz in a wicked low cross which Fitzpatrick just about failed to get a touch on the end of. Cliftonville struggled to deal with it and Charlie Allen nipped in, but he poked his effort onto the roof of the net.
Further substitutions followed in the 76th minute as David Healy freshened up the team. Jamie Mulgrew and Kyle McClean had started to tire and were replaced by Josh Archer and Cammy Ballantyne. Both young substitutes made positive contributions to the match, with summer signing Ballantyne having probably his strongest performance in a blue shirt to date.
The Blues were positive in the latter stages and had two late chances to win it. In the 85th minute, the impressive Charlie Allen cut in from the left, where he was playing left-wing-back, to shoot from the edge of the box and he was unlucky to see his low shot flash marginally wide of the post. On 88 minutes, Chris McKee headed over a Kirk Millar cross from a good position – an opportunity he’d probably have backed himself to convert.
Cliftonville had a late penalty appeal when Michael Newberry went down inside the box when he challenged Ethan McGee for a corner delivery to the back post area, but referee Ian McNabb dismissed the appeals.
Probably a fair enough result and one neither team will be too disappointed with, particularly given other results across the division.
Next up for the Blues is a home League match against Carrick Rangers this Saturday (15:00). David Healy’s men will want to avoid a repeat of last season’s 3-3 draw against the Amber Army. Instead, what they will want is a return to winning ways and scoring goals.
FT: Cliftonville 0-0 Linfield