HALE FINDS A WAY THROUGH AS REDS KEEP HITTING WOODWORK
Rory Hale grabbed the only goal of the game as Cliftonville defeated Glenavon at Mourneview Park on a night that saw the Reds strike the woodwork four times!
The first of those came during the opening exchanges when Ben Wilson got past keeper Rory Brown before cutting the ball back for Joe Gormley but Brown recovered well to push his effort onto the crossbar.
Glenavon came close too, however, when Peter Campbell fired into the side netting at the back post followed by a Robert Garrett effort from distance that keeper David Odumosu did well to keep out at full stretch.
And Stephen McDonnell's charges almost found a way through later in the first half only for Jack Malone's curling effort to drift just the target.
Cliftonville struck the woodwork for the second time moments after the interval when Rory Hale's header was denied by the fixtures and fittings, but he did go one better soon after with what proved to be the winner when he was teed up by Shea Kearney to send the ball past Brown.
The visitors were frustrated once again a short time later when the post thwarted Wilson after he had created space for himself on the edge of the area.
At the other end a Matthew Snoddy snapshot from 25 yards went narrowly wide, but Cliftonville - and Wilson - were denied by the post once again as the Reds looked to put the game to bed.
In the closing moments Ronan Hale came off the bench and found the net but this was ruled out offside while, for Glenavon, Aaron Prendergast might have snatched the equaliser only to find the side netting from a Malone pass.
Glenavon: Brown, Snoddy, Malone, Campbell, Quinn, Baird, McCloskey, Teggart, Wallace, Garrett, Ward subs Purvis, Kerr, Rogers, Prendergast, Mulvenna, Nesbitt, Henderson
Cliftonville: Odumosu, Addis, Gallagher, Rory Hale, Jordan, Doherty, Gormley, Casey, Turner, Kearney, Wilson subs Donnelly, Kenny, Curran, Mallon, Lowe, Ashford, Ronan Hale
Substitution 
Substitution 
