Traveling away to a fellow promotion contender, Cliftonville put in a dominant performance characterised by the majority of possession and numerous chances.
While the result ended in heartbreak at the death, there were immense positives to take from the performance.
Facing a tough away fixture with a depleted squad, Cliftonville had to completely reshape their setup at the back with only 1 recognised defender. Levin Bell on his debut to hockey stepped in at full back and Andy Soames shifted further back from his usual Centre Back position to make his debut in goal.
Despite the emergency defensive alignment, the makeshift back line held remarkably solid, frustrating the hosts and keeping the score locked at 0-0 heading into halftime.
The second half brought an early setback when New Beccs managed to break the deadlock, going 1-0 up just 5 minutes into the half.
Refusing to drop their heads, Cliftonville responded by ramping up the pressure and found a deserved equaliser on 50 minutes when Cammish fired a dangerous ball into the circle, for Dylan Walker to meet with a brilliant first-time deflection in at the near post to level the score at 1-1 .
With the momentum entirely on their side, Cliftonville dominated possession and created a mountain of chances to take the lead, but failed to find the finishing touch.
In that period New Beccs had the odd break that were dealt with predominantly until cruel misfortune struck in the final minute of the match. Pushing hard for the winner their performance warranted, Cliftonville were caught out by a swift counter-attack, conceding a breakaway goal that handed New Beccs a 2-1 victory.
The dramatic finish concluded with a flash of ill-discipline as the New Beccs goalscorer was shown a green card for over-celebrating directly in the face of Cliftonville's emergency keeper, Andy Soames.
Despite the gut-wrenching defeat, the team can take massive encouragement from several key areas of the performance: included, Strong Team Play: Cohesive movement and sharp passing throughout the pitch.
Forward Hold-Up Play: Excellent work from the front line to relieve pressure and retain possession.
Midfield Work Rate: Tireless running and battling in the center of the park to dictate the tempo.
Defensive Resilience: A surprisingly solid back line performance, especially considering the lack of experience and makeshift positions.
Our Partners
We will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible.
