Kieran Offord and Kyle McClean celebrating the Linfield goalInpho

Kieran Offord already has four Irish Premiership goals in two games

Jana McCabe
BBC Sport NI contributor

Defending champions Linfield made it back-to-back victories in their opening two Irish Premiership games as they defeated Cliftonville 1-0 at Windsor Park.

Kieran Offord netted the only goal of the game in the 27th minute when his strike from range found the top corner.

It was a dominant display from Linfield, and they were denied a more comfortable advantage by Reds stopper PJ Morrison, who deflected Kyle McClean's goal-bound free-kick onto the woodwork.

The result means that the Reds are without a win in their opening four league games and that David Healy's side have now lost just one of their last 14 meetings at Windsor Park against the Reds.

Offord strike seals the win for Blues

It was a busy start to the game with Odhran Casey clearing Offord's effort off the line and Jack Keaney nodding Rory Hale's corner wide at the other end.

Linfield broke the deadlock just before the 30-minute-mark when Cliftonville failed to take the ball off Offord, despite multiple attempts, with the striker sending a strong strike into the top corner from outside the box.

A fingertip save from Morrison then denied the Blues a more comfortable lead seconds after the opening goal with the Cliftonville stopper diverting McClean's free-kick onto the left-hand post.

David Healy's side continued to dominate and had a good chance on the counter-attack but after a good move from McClean in midfield, Offord fired wide.

It was the away side who had the final chance of the half with Chris Johns called into action to thwart Thomas Lavery's low shot in additional time.

Just after the restart, a mix-up between Johns and Sam Roscoe nearly gifted Eric McWoods a chance, but the Blues were able to clear their lines before the Cliftonville forward could connect with the ball.

McClean then curled an effort just wide of the left-hand post before Hale's shot was comfortably gathered by Johns.

In the closing stages of the match, Matthew Fitzpatrick and substitute Callumn Morrison fired wide for the Blues, who now go into the second leg of their Uefa Conference League play-off against Shelbourne on Thursday looking to overturn a 3-1 deficit.