On a pouring night in north Belfast, rivals Crusaders and Cliftonville defied the conditions to serve up a feast at Seaview and deliver a dramatic 2-2 draw. The rain did not act as any sort of deterrent for either team to play attack-minded football, with plenty of action in both boxes and a sterling occasion delivered in front of the Sky Sports cameras on the Shore Road.
For the sides involved, however, the three points would have been paramount relative to their season aims. Thus, a draw feels like a result better welcomed by the likes of the league’s leaders Larne and BetMcLean Cup victors Linfield rather than necessarily the outfits on display – it is not a result that is absolutely decisive for either club’s aspirations, but it certainly leaves the mountain to climb that little bit steeper.
Firstly, the fixture itself was a belter, and reflective of the possible gains on offer before this derby duel kicked off. There was more risk/reward play than a high-stakes game of poker.
Both will have known the significance the three points could have held. For Cliftonville, starting seven points behind Larne with a game in hand, a victory surely would have ramped things up as the respective Reds of Inver Park and Solitude brace to engage at some point in the split.
And while Crusaders’ title hopes would have stayed slim irrespective, second-place in the standings – maximum fruits would have taken them merely two points behind Cliftonville and Linfield, who entered level on points and neck-and-neck in that runners-up spot – assures European football without the peril of the four-team European play-off.
It lived up to the hype from the first whistle. Eight goals, let alone four, would not have flattered with what was on show.
To list the highlights for the away side, who walked out to a cavernous chorus and an eye-catching display of flares, Ronan Hale struck an upright early with an outside-boot beauty from range while Ronan Doherty found Billy Joe Burns on the goalline to deny him beyond a beaten Jonny Tuffey. The hosts, meanwhile, saw presentable headed chances which were odds-on to go in guided wide by firstly goal supremo Philip Lowry and then one-time Solitude star Jude Winchester.
At the end, Joe Gormley somehow put past the post with the kind of chance you’d bet your house on him scoring, while Declan Caddell skied over in as pulsating a denouement as you will have seen in any Premiership game all season.
But of such a flurry of opportunities, only a quartet found the net. Opening and closing the goal count each way of the interval for the Crues were outstanding distance drives by Jordan Forsythe and Ross Clarke, enveloping a Ryan Curran brace for the Reds who were donning their green and white-striped away strip.
Forsythe’s missile of a free kick arrowed past Nathan Gartside, before line-leader Curran stroked over the line from Kris Lowe’s initial delivery despite Tuffey’s best efforts to claw it away.
Ex-Ballinamallard United man Curran’s composed penalty in front of his team’s travelling faithful – awarded by match referee Christopher Morrison after Josh Robinson felled the energetic Rory Hale – put the visitors on course for a first Seaview victory since 2019.
However, substitute Clarke’s rasping effort levelled proceedings 10 minutes from time and despite the best efforts of Gormley and Caddell, there were no further inroads into the scoreboard.
It was breathtaking stuff. The intensity high, the tempo sustained and a few typical derby bust-ups for good measure.
Alas, though, in the wider scheme of the final reward, a point represents only a moderate gain. While not an opportunity gone begging for either, it feels like a chance only partially availed of.
It also highlights the decisive factor of a margin for error, particularly pertinent at this stage where multiple teams compete for a prize that only one can savour. Cliftonville and Crusaders don’t have much of it.
Really, there is only one team that does – the side that are setting the pace.
Now with a six-point advantage and a vastly superior goal difference to the Reds behind, if it wasn’t already Larne’s league to lose before last night, the case is strengthened now.
Seven games remain. It may be that the Invermen win only five and their closest chasers would still not catch up to them even if they go on a perfect streak.
It is still a test of fortitude for the east Antrim institution, but they have shown their bottle already – it appears only Cliftonville and Linfield can wrestle the top spot off them, and at that it would take them beating their provincial foes alongside everyone else, plus a few favours.
But boss Paddy McLaughlin must take heart from the way his team acquitted themselves. As a part-time club mixing it with full-time forces, they have not looked out of place, and arguably have a stronger strength in depth. Even young midfielder Odhrán Casey, deployed as a right-sided centre back in a fiery affair, grew into his stride as the game endured.
Their flame isn’t out yet, and after taking it to the last kick in last campaign’s split, they will not go down without a fight. They have plenty left in their tank as their performance at Seaview showed.
And David Healy, fresh from adding yet another trophy to Linfield’s bulging cabinet in the form of the League Cup on Sunday, will rally his Blues to fight to the final whistle as well.
Goals by Joel Cooper and Chris Shields – the latter a spot-kick – towards the start of the second half booked Northern Irish football’s most cup-laden club another major honour for the books, and they are still high on belief that this characteristic winning mentality will inspire them to still defend their crown.
Spirit is one thing, though. Clinical edge on the pitch is another. The latter, as it stands, is essential if the Gibson Cup’s tenure in Belfast is to go beyond 21 years.
As for Crusaders, their race is run as far as top spot is concerned. And, albeit in a different context, Stephen Baxter has the same limited licence for mistakes as his opposite number McLaughlin.
Though they are in the last-four in the Irish Cup, the tournament they won last year and are seeking to retain, one suspects the Hatchetmen would rather not leave all their eggs in one basket for the prize of automatic Europa Conference League qualification. It is achievable by winning Ireland’s oldest football cup competition but it is not the safest way.
They would rather have that in the bag come the big kick-off – and that’s if they advance beyond Dungannon Swifts, who upset Cliftonville in the quarter-finals to make the grade.
In order to book the runners-up position, it is a similar tale. Beat the Reds, beat Linfield, favours elsewhere. They must be at their best in order to avoid the dreaded play-off.
And there are still Coleraine – left disappointed by Healy in south Belfast as they felt more bitter final woe – and Glentoran, both equally out of the title picture but still with eyes on a good split and a shot at that second-spot if it goes to plan.
There will be theatre. There will be laughter, there will be tears. But, looking from specifically the viewpoints of Cliftonville and Crusaders, they will need to be as mistake-free as possible.
Even perfection may not secure them their prize if other results do not fall, but they will give themselves the best chance by simply getting wins on the board.
Nothing is sealed, nothing is terminal. In the immediate aftermath, it feels like a boost for Larne above all, but there is not much worse a time for complacency.
Featured image from official NIFL Twitter.
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