Women’s League Cup final: Cliftonville beat Glentoran to lift trophy

The pressure finally told on 20 minutes as Caitlin McGuinness held off Jess Foy to latch onto Maddie Harvey-Clifford’s long ball forward before coolly slotting past McKinnon.

McGuinness and Cliftonville doubled their tally six minutes later as she held off Foy once again to get on the end of Hannah Doherty’s pass before lashing an unstoppable shot past McKinnon into the far corner.

It was no more that the Solitude outfit deserved as they dominated proceedings as The Glens struggled to impose themselves in the first half.

Glentoran regrouped at the start of the second half and started to ask a few more questions of the holders without really troubling Harvey-Clifford in the Reds goal.

Drama was to unfold off the pitch on 55 minutes when Cliftonville boss Lynch was dismissed after picking up two yellow cards in quick succession after he exchanged words with referee Brendan Lynch.

Caitlin McGuinness went close to bagging her hat-trick on 66 minutes after a great run down the left finished with McKinnon blocking her shot at the near post.

But within two minutes Cliftonville did have a third as Kirsty McGuinness followed her sister on getting on the score sheet after she produced a composed finish from Danielle Maxwell’s cross.

Maxwell was to get in on the act with eight minutes to go as she pounced on a slack clearance from McKinnon, exchanged passes with Louise McDaniel on the edge of the box before lashing an unstoppable effort into the top corner to put the icing on the cake.