Cliftonville 3-2 Ballymena United

Cliftonville came from behind to beat Ballymena United 3-2 in an end-to-end Premiership clash at Solitude.

Ryan Mayse had opened the scoring before Joe Gormley's penalty and Chris Curran's superb solo strike gave the Reds the lead at the break.

Conor Quigley's equaliser for Ballymena looked to have forced the points to be shared before Jay Donnelly scored a late winner.

The home side made a disastrous start as Garry Breen's poor pass put goalkeeper Richard Brush under pressure. He was wrong-footed and quickly closed down by Ryan Mayse, and the ball was bundled over line in just the 3rd minute.

However, only 3 minutes later Ballymena defender Conor Quigley was judged to have tripped Ryan Curran just inside the box and Joe Gormley slammed home the resulting penalty.

After 39 minutes, Chris Curran's solo goal put Cliftonville ahead for the first time. The captain picked up the ball 10 yards inside the United half and powered his way through a few flimsy tackles before surging into the box and calmly slotting the ball beyond the keeper.

5 minutes after the break, Reds substitute Conor McMenamin drove down the left before crossing for Ryan Curran, whose shot clipped the base of the Ballymena post.

Ballymena then went close on 62 as Levi Ives threw himself in front of substitute Jonathan McMurray's shot, diverting it over the bar.

David Jeffrey's side didn't waste their next chance, and with 68 minutes played fullback Quigley made amends for conceding the penalty as he got forward to meet Mayse's cross and score a simple back-post header.

It set up a tense finish, and it was Cliftonville who took advantage as Jay Donnelly rose highest to connect with Stephen Garrett's cross and plant a header beyond Glendinning with just 5 minutes left to play.