Take it as Red

Rory Hale’s second goal of the season was enough to maintain Cliftonville’s long unbeaten record against Coleraine and propel the Reds into the top half of the table.

The Cliftonville captain broke the deadlock five minutes before the break to make it 16 games unbeaten against the Bannsiders.

The move began when Johnny Addis picked out Keevan Hawthorne with a trademark long pass out of defence.

The midfielder looked up and picked out the unmarked Hale racing into the box who calmly side footed past Coleraine goalkeeper Aidan Harris from close range.

Earlier, Eric McWoods twice went close for the home side, blazing over the bar, while at the other end Jamie Glackin shot into the side netting when well placed.

Cliftonville came close to doubling their advantage on a number of occasions after half-time.

First, Rory Hale narrowly missed the target with a 20 yard effort before Rowan McDonald blocked Ryan Curran’s goal bound effort on the line.

Defender Jack Keaney, in an advanced position, was denied by a smart save by Harris following a quickly taken Rory Hale free-kick.

At the other end, Will Patching’s free-kick just after the hour was comfortably saved by Reds keeper PJ Morrison and the stopper was at it again deep into added time when he dived low to his left to deny second half sub Ollie Devlin what would have been a dramatic equaliser.

The Reds move into the top half of the table while Coleraine’s lead at the top is reduced to just one point over Larne, with the pair meeting on Tuesday night.

CLIFTONVILLE: Morrison, Pepper, Lavery, Addis, Hale, Curran (Gormley '72 mins), Casey, Keaney, McWoods (Falls '86 mins), Hawthorne (Bermingham '86 mins), Sheridan (Barr '81 mins).

Subs Not Used: Ridd (GK), Leppard, Glynn.

COLERAINE: Harris, Jarvis (Devlin '72 mins), Boyle (Kane '61 mins), Lyons-Foster, McGregor (Okoro '46 mins), Patching (McManus '80 mins), Shevlin, Cooper, Glackin, Dunne, McDonald (Doherty '61 mins).

Subs Not Used: Webb (GK), Stewart.

Referee: Steven Gregg