Release Date: Jan 19, 2013

CLIFTONVILLE maintained their strangehold at the top of the table with an impressive defeat of Portadown at Shamrock Park.

The Reds moved in front after just eight minutes through Diarmuid O'Carroll who fired home from an acute angle after Eamon Seydak had played the ball across from the left side of the area.

And they almost doubled their lead moments later after Liam Boyce was just inches away from turning home a right-wing cross.

Cliftonville eventually added their second on 66 minutes after Brian Gartland failed to cut out a George McMullan free-kick allowing Joe Gormley to turn the ball past David Miskelly.

However, Portadown pulled one back on 74 minutes after Gary Twigg touched on a Kevin Braniff ball into the path of Sean Mackle to blast home.

But any thoughts they had of staging a late revival were thwarted five minutes after that when a poor Tim Mouncey back pass allowed Boyce in to roll Cliftonville's third past Miskelly.

Boyce might have added a fourth for the visitors not long after when a superb piece of skill saw him leave the Ports defence trailing only for his subsequent shot to drift wide.

Match statistics