As regurgitated as it is, Cliftonville’s Irish Cup record makes for one of the most perplexing statlines in any Irish League archive.
Ireland’s oldest football club’s tale in Ireland’s oldest footballing cup competition is not really a joyous one; they’ve won it eight times, yet boast just a single honour since 1909.
That’s one Irish Cup in 115 years to put it in layman’s terms, which came in 1979 when they nudged a topsy-turvy Final 3-2 against Portadown at Windsor Park.
Branded a curse – that’s, of course, for you to decide given the Reds have reached their fair share of deciders – they’ll have the chance to set the record straight when they face Linfield at the international venue on May 4.
That in itself is history. 1934 was the last time these two juggernauts of Belfast football met on Irish Cup Final day, with the Blues easing to a 5-0 success at The Oval courtesy of finishes by Bambrick, Caiels, Mackay, Donnelly and McCracken.
You wouldn’t bet on a repeat of that scoreline in this encounter, but you might get a crowd close to the 18,500 that flocked to the east side of the capital nine decades ago for a match that will rightly be billed as a blockbuster.
Jim Magilton and his players will be up for it. Cliftonville at least have the trophy to boast in the cabinet unlike their semi-final opponents Larne, who’ve reached six showpieces in this tournament and fallen at the last hurdle each time, and the Solitude men prolonged their Inver rivals’ perpetual drought with a thoroughly impressive 2-0 victory in this encounter.
Much has been made of the Reds’ poor record against the rest of the last-four – they have zero wins in eight duels with Linfield, Larne and Glentoran in the Sports Direct Premiership this term – but boy didn’t they lift their game when it mattered.
They deserved the fruits of triumph in full, and on former midfielder Chris Gallagher’s birthday… well, let’s just say the loud and proud north Belfast faithful weren’t wholly prepared to shower him with cards and well wishes.
After the acrimonious nature of the 25-year-old’s switch to the Invermen in January, he was on the wrong end of a few tough tackles and shoulder barges but, in truth, Tiernan Lynch’s men were below par across the board.
Their first defeat in 90 minutes for six months, and a second successive semi-final exit after David Jeffrey’s Ballymena United had their number at Seaview last term, the two that their opponents got – firstly through Jonny Addis’ towering header in the first half before Ronan Hale powered home to seal the deal late on – could’ve been more, with Hale’s older brother Rory a metronomic influence from the middle of the park and Larne strikers Lee Bonis and Andy Ryan largely kept under lock and key by Addis and Odhran Casey in defence.
Whether Cliftonville will repeat the feat at Solitude on Tuesday night on the day that marks the end of the Premiership’s pre-split schedule for good – that’s a day Larne could even lose top spot if the Reds pile on the woe and Linfield capitalise – remains up for decision.
But Saturday was a night for Redmen and women. It was never really in doubt, and now, Cliftonville will have a chance to lay their long-standing ghosts to rest.
Featured image from INPHO/Johnny Caldwell.
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