Irish Premiership: Cliftonville 2-0 Glentoran

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Cliftonville beat Glentoran 2-0 at Solitude to remain top of the Irish Premiership

Superb second-half strikes by Chris Curran and Joe Gormley gave champions Cliftonville victory over Glentoran.

The win keeps Tommy Breslin's side one point ahead of Linfield at the top of the table with three matches left.

Curran curled in a great shot in the 52nd minute, seconds after Cliftonville felt they should have had a penalty for a foul on Gormley.

Glentoran had Jonny Addis sent-off for a second yellow card before striker Gormley drilled in the second goal.

Cliftonville, aiming to regain the Gibson Cup for the first time, play their final home fixtures against Glenavon next Saturday but ending the campaign with trips to Portadown and Crusaders.

"For the club to retain the championship would be a magnificent achievement," said Reds manager Tommy Breslin.

"The prize is there and we have our noses in front.

"We just told our boys to play with no fear. People expect us to run over teams in the first 10 minutes. But this was a tricky game.

"Once we got our first goal we played more like ourselves."

Cliftonville's Barry Johnston and Ryan Catney were denied by fine saves by Glens keeper Elliott Morris in the first half.

Early in the second half, the home side looked like they should have had a penalty when Gormley was bundled over by defender Kevin Bradley.

However, that was quickly forgotten when Liam Boyce sprayed a fine ball out to Curran who cut in from the left to curl a lovely finish beyond Morris and into the far corner.

The second goal was an equally impressive finish, Gormley firing first-time into the net with his right foot after Martin Donnelly's pass through.

It was Gormley's 36th goal of the season, equalling the record his strike partner Boyce set last season.

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