Gormley scores hat-trick to reach 200 Cliftonville goals

Cliftonville's Joe Gormley scored a 9-minute hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Dungannon Swifts as he reached the 200 goal milestone for the club.

It brings the prolific striker to 11 goals in the Danske Bank Premiership, and 16 for the season.

The explosive display of finishing came after the break when the game at Solitude finally sparked into life.

The first half was dull, almost entirely lacking in chances until the 37th when Ryan Curran's close range shot came off the crossbar and then the post after Conor McMenamin had rounded the keeper to tee him up for a tap-in.

It was 5 minutes into the second half that Gormley opened the scoring after some unexpectedly route one football by the Reds.

Keeper Richard Brush fired it long, and Gormley got himself one-on-one after a flick-on by Ruaidhri Donnelly, driving it into the bottom corner from 16 yards.

It was a goal that immediately relieved the pressure, lifting the Reds while simultaneously deflating the confidence of the Swifts.

There was little surprise then in the 55th minute when Gormley grabbed his second goal of the afternoon and his 200th for the club overall.

Conor McDermott clipped another long ball forward and the striker managed to gather possession and sneak a left-footed finish into the same bottom corner to make it 2-0 to Cliftonville.

The full-back McDermott found the striker again in the 59th as Gormley met his near-post cross to finish from close range, driving the ball between the legs of keeper Niall Morgan.

It was 9 minutes of class from Gormley that blew the Swifts away and effectively killed the game as a contest.

There was still plenty of time for Cliftonville to add more goals; the 4th came when Donnelly's effort took a massive deflection before bouncing into the bottom corner in the 84th minute.

Conor McMenamin made it 5 in added time with a crisp strike that found the bottom corner from 20 yards.