Indeed, for the Bannsiders it was very much a case of roles reversed from the weekend after they had raced into a similar advantage against the other half of north Belfast only to be quickly pegged back and then overcome.

The Reds only needed three minutes to open the scoring when Kieran O'Connor headed past Davy O'Hare from a George McMullan free-kick into the area.

Coleraine came storming back with a long range Tommy McCallion effort kept out by John Connolly followed by a Matt Crossan shot which defender Aaron Smyth cleared off the line.

But it was Cliftonville who struck again when, on 29 minutes, Chris Scannell got himself on the end of a Declan O'Hara flick to direct the ball beyond O'Hare.

Coleraine reduced the deficit within a couple of minutes, though, after Crossan unleashed a curling 25-yard drive out of reach of the despairing Connolly.

And it was all square on 36 minutes courtesy of Stephen Carson when he ghosted past Smyth to deliver a crisp effort into the net.

Darren Cassidy then might have made it 3-2 for David Platt's side only to be denied by a Connolly save while, later in the game, Carson had a shot cleared off the line by O'Hara.

For Cliftonville Liam Boyce went close with a header while the Scannell brothers were out of luck when Ronan just failed to get a touch to Chris' knock down in front of goal.

Indeed, it was the visitors who almost snatched the points right at the end when an O'Connor stab forward was kept out frantically by a combination of Crossan and O'Hare.