In the Premiership game on 7 August 2026, Cliftonville FC beat Crusaders FC 2:1. Match numbers: shots on target 4:6, possession, % 61:39.
Match report
Cliftonville and Crusaders met in the first regular season match of the Premiership on Friday evening, with the hosts claiming a 2-1 victory at home. The result keeps both sides level on nine points after five games, though Cliftonville sit fourth while Crusaders occupy sixth place.
B. Quinn opened the scoring in the eleventh minute, and that was how the first half stood for a while. By then the game had settled into something tight, with Crusaders' R. Weir picking up a yellow card in the thirty-seventh minute. Cliftonville's K. Forsythe went offside a little later, but the visitors couldn't break through.
Crusaders levelled things in the sixty-second minute through a penalty from D. McMaster, and you could see the momentum shift. The hosts responded with a flurry of changes, starting with K. McKechnie in the sixty-third minute, followed by R. Campbell, O. Samuels, B. Healy, and J. Blaney in quick succession. They were trying to regain control.
Cliftonville won it late, with a goal in the ninety-third minute, though the scorer wasn't named in the available data. The visitors had more shots on target—six to four—but the hosts were more efficient with their thirty attacks compared to Crusaders' twenty-eight. Possession sat at sixty-one per cent for Cliftonville, thirty-nine for the visitors.
Both teams have played five matches and have identical records of three wins and two defeats. The result means Cliftonville move ahead on goal difference while Crusaders remain in sixth. The hosts had been in decent form recently, winning three of their last four before this match.
Prepared from match data
Key numbers
Possession, %61–39
Shots on target4–6
Shots off target4–4
Attacks30–28
HT⚽11' B. Quinn — Goal🟨21' Yellow card🟨37' R. Weir — Yellow card🟨60' K. Forsythe — Yellow card⚽62' D. McMaster — Penalty⇄63' K. McKechnie — Substitution⇄71' R. Campbell — Substitution⇄74' O. Samuels — Substitution⇄79' B. Healy — Substitution⇄84' J. Blaney — Substitution⚽90+3' Goal
