Highlights: Dungannon Swifts 1-3 Cliftonville

Mark Jones

Cliftonville returned to winning ways with a 3-1 win against Dungannon Swifts at Stangmore Park.

Brian Healy broke the deadlock in the 25th minute before Rory Hale doubled the visitors' advantage three minutes later.

Despite Sean McAllister pulling a goal back for the hosts, Healy restored the Reds' two-goal cushion shortly afterwards in the second half.

Victory for Jim Magilton's men ends a run of six successive league defeats, while struggling Dungannon are without a league win since 5 September.

Healy double settles it for the Reds

The away side should have taken an early lead with just two minutes on the clock. Dungannon failed to clear their lines but Liam McStravick, seizing on the loose ball, could only drag his first-time volley inches wide of the far post.

The Reds threatened again when Hale slipped Ben Quinn through on the left, only for Declan Dunne to react smartly to turn the winger's low effort around the near post.

That warning went unheeded and Cliftonville broke the deadlock on 25 minutes when Aaron Wightman whipped an inviting delivery into the six-yard box from the right flank for Healy to steer past Dunne on the stretch.

Magilton's men doubled their advantage just three minutes later, after Quinn's overhit cross was rescued on the right by McStravick, who teed up Hale to squeeze a low finish past Dunne at his near post.

The hosts halved the deficit on 70 minutes with a move bearing a striking resemblance to Healy's earlier opener.

Corey Smith picked out Gordon at the back post and he teed up former Everton man McAllister for a simple close-range tap-in.

Any hopes of a comeback were swiftly extinguished moments later, however, as McStravick unlocked the Swifts' backline with a sumptuous through ball for Healy, who rifled an emphatic finish past Dunne to restore the away side's two-goal cushion with his fifth of the campaign.

What the managers said

Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree: "I thought we started quite well and barring the first opportunity for Cliftonville, which came from a mistake of ours, I thought the next 20 to 25 minutes we did well. Then we conceded a bad first goal, conceded another one within the space of two and a half minutes and killed ourselves, to be honest.

"We have to do better defensively, and that is the disappointing aspect of it because we allowed the ball to come into our box too easily and did not defend the near-post space well enough. To then go and make those silly mistakes, concede goals and put ourselves on the back foot is criminal."

Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton: "Today was really just about us playing to the conditions, which were quite fierce at times. I thought we showed great character again and that's been a standout for five, six weeks. We've had to show that resilience and we have and we know we have quality in our team.

"We know what it is like to come to Dungannon; it is a really tough place because of the quality they possess, with a quality manager and coaches that deliver week in, week out. Today we got our dividends and that was great."