GOALS GALORE!

A goal in the dying seconds of injury time denied Glenavon all three points as Terry Cochrane's side twice held a two-goal lead, leaving the players 'gutted' in the changing room after the match.

Trevor Molloy put the Lurgan Blues ahead in the 17th minute as he tapped in from the centre of the 6 yard box after Gerard McMahon headed Paul Carville's corner back into the mix. Carville had won the corner when he forced Connolly to turn his 30 yard free kick round the post. Before this Cliftonville had threatened to take an early lead when Mark Holland had a shot saved by Tuda Murphy and John Martin's follow up was blocked on the line.

A few minutes after Molloy's opener young Reds full back Aaron Smyth forced a good save from Murphy after a free kick from George McMullan caused problems in the Glenavon defence. Molloy drew a save from Connolly after Harper robbed O'Hara but almost immediately McMullan drove a low shot just inches wide of the post. O'Hara then failed to cut out a ball over the top from Carville into Molloy's run and the striker's shot across Connolly forced the Reds keeper into a very good save at the expense of a corner. This almost turned into a carbon copy of the opening goal, with McMahon again stooping at the back post to head Carville's corner back into the side netting.

Eleven minutes into the second half and Molloy doubled his tally as he found himself unmarked at the back post when Mark Turkington's pin-point cross picked him out and he slotted the ball past the helpless Connolly. Cliftonville reduced the lead just three minutes later when O'Hara forced a header home as Glenavon failed to clear the danger from a McMullan corner though, with Murphy ending up colliding with a post, it looked like there could have been a foul on the Glenavon keeper.

The goal scoring burst continued two minutes later when Sammy Stewart smashed a fabulous volley into the top corner from the edge of the 'D' to restore Glenavon's two-goal advantage as he opened his account for the Club.

Chris Scannell reduced the deficit to a single goal in the 67th minute as he fired in from close range following a clever corner kick routine. McMullan pulled the corner back to substitute Catney and he lobbed the ball high into the area. It would have dropped just under the bar but Michael McKerr got his head to it on the line. Unfortunately the ball came back off the post and fell kindly for the Reds skipper to hammer it home.

Harper almost restored Glenavon's two-goal cushion ten minutes later when Molloy dribbled with the ball along the bye line and cut it back to Stewart. He slid the ball into Harper's feet on the edge of the six yard area and it took a great save by Connolly to turn the ball onto the bar as the Glenavon midfielder swivelled and fired a left foot shot goal-wards.

Glenavon had to settle for a share of the points when McMullan popped up at the back post to head over Murphy after Scannell's cross set up the chance in the final minute of added time.

"I think the performance was very, very good. We kept Cliftonville on the back foot. They're not a bad side and they will come at you and create problems but we created all sorts of problems for them.

"Obviously we're gutted with the result even though we'd probably have taken a point before the match but, playing so well, it is gutting. The lads will have been lifted after playing so well so, going into next week's game against Portadown, we can be quietly confident of getting something out of it.

"We're talking about referees again today. We all come back to referees - it wasn't good enough; he didn't give us anything in the second half. I know that's a manager talking but, at the end of the day, he was missing things. People were getting hit off the ball and stuff like that. Wrong types of decisions make other decision vital in the game.

"At the end of the day I have no fault with my players. They gave me what they've got."