TWO goals from Vicky Carleton (above) either side of the break set Cliftonville Women up to defeat Lisburn Rangers 3-1 at Solitude to close the gap on second placed Linfield to three points with a game in hand in the Sports Direct Women’s Premiership. Glentoran remain top.
Carleton opened the scoring on 37 minutes with an assured finish from around 12 yards out after Kirsty McGuinness had cut the ball back into her path.
Then, seven minutes in the second half, Carleton struck again from the edge of the six yard box after being teed up by Caitlin McGuinness.
Abbie Smyth pulled one back for the visitors just four minutes after that with a smart near post finish.
But the Reds restored their two-goal advantage with just over ten minutes remaining when Kirsty McGuinness crossed for sister Caitlin to head into the corner of the net.
Cliftonville Women: Norney, Burrows, Morgan, Lynch, C. McGuinness, Carleton, K. McGuinness, Callaghan, O. McGuinness, Magee, McLaughlin. Subs: McAllister, O’Neill, Stone, Markey, Gallagher, Thompson, McCrory
Lisburn Rangers: Higgins, Parker, McGreevy, Bell, Gelston Mulholland, Dickson, Megaw, D. Conway, Loughran, G. Conway, Stanyte. Subs: Smith, Donnan, Smyth, Magee, McConnell, Tumelty, Adair.
| POS | TEAM | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | FORM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glentoran Women | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 44 | 9 | 35 | 30 | LWWWW |
| 2 | Linfield Women | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 56 | 12 | 44 | 28 | WWWWW |
| 3 | Cliftonville Ladies | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 6 | 20 | 25 | LWWWW |
| 4 | Lisburn Rangers | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 20 | 21 | -1 | 18 | LWWLL |
| 5 | Crusaders Strikers | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 17 | 31 | -14 | 12 | LWLLL |
| 6 | Derry City Women | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 14 | 30 | -16 | 9 | LWLLL |
| 7 | Lisburn Ladies | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 28 | -24 | 3 | LLLLL |
| 8 | Larne Women | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 8 | 52 | -44 | 3 | LLLLW |
