Ballymena United 0-8 Cliftonville

Cliftonville moved seven points clear at the top of the Irish Premiership by hammering Ballymena United 8-0.

Stephen Garrett nipped in to score the opener in the fifth minute and a great finish by George McMullan made it 2-0.

Liam Boyce ran on to Marc Smyth's well-timed pass to score the third and then Boyce set up James Knowles for 4-0.

Joe Gormley netted a fine shot in the 55th minute, Boyce got his second, sub O'Carroll shot in number seven and then Garrett completed the rout late on.

Gormley's effort was a superb goal, as he advanced to unleash a terrific 25-yard shot.

Boyce, having an outstanding season, pounced in the box for a close-range fifth as Cliftonville refused to ease up.

Substitute O'Carroll squeezed in the seventh in the 63rd minute and that was the signal for some Ballymena fans to begin their journey home.

They would have missed their team's day get even worse as Garrett made it 8-0 on 83 minutes.

Incredibly, this was Ballymena's first home defeat in the league since February but it came less than two weeks after they lost 6-0 to Linfield in the League Cup quarter-finals at the Showgrounds.