The final game of my Belfast trilogy took me to the North of the city for the 5.30pm game at Cliftonville's Solitude ground. There was no danger of this game being off as there is an artificial 3G pitch installed at the ground.
The game was a North Belfast derby clash with rivals Crusaders for the right to lift the League Cup. The game was played at Solitude, as opposed to the usual Windsor Park, after both finalists decided to toss a coin for the right to host the game.
Founded in 1879, Cliftonville are the oldest club in Ireland and are the current holders of the League Cup having beaten Crusaders 4-0 in the 2013 final.
Solitude was hosting it's first major cup final for over 44 years, the ground having undertook major redevelopment in the last 10 years or so, with two brand new stands behind each goal complimenting the old Main Stand which was erected in the 1950's. Tonight there was also temporary seating in place to help increase the capacity.
As you could imagine, demand for tickets for this game were high and I managed to obtain a ticket in the Bowling Green End with the Crusaders fans, but, to be honest, the view from my seat was not the greatest.
In front of the Sky TV cameras, the game was a typical derby affair, played at 100 miles an hour, with precious time on the ball. Cliftonville were the better side in the opening 45 minutes and the second half was a bit more even, but in all honesty clear cut chances were few and far between in a disappointing 90 minutes, the game doing little to warm me up on a freezing cold evening.
There was an air of inevitability that this game was going all the way, as extra time failed to separate the sides. It was then down to the lottery of penalties to decide the destination of the cup. After Cliftonville's Conor Devlin had saved Jordan Owens spot kick, it was all square at 2-2 when Ciaran Caldwell stepped up to make it 3-2. Craig McClean had to score to keep The Crusaders alive, but he fired his penalty wide of the goal to keep the trophy at Solitude and send the 'home' fans wild in celebration.
All that was left for me was to make the walk back into town and sink a few more ales, as you do, and reflect on another very enjoyable weekend in Belfast.
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| The party begins as the Cliftonville fans & players celebrate in harmony |
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