NICE ONE BOYCEY: Liam helps the Reds to 3-0 win over Linfield

CLIFTONVILLE capitilised on their home advantage and beat Linfield 3-0.

The vital win yesterday puts them on 33 points and has stretched their lead over their nearest rivals Ballinamallard, Coleraine and Crusaders who all lost ground.

And that man again, striker Liam Boyce has scored another goal for the Reds in the week he won the Northern Ireland Footballer Writers Association Player of the Month award for October.

It was his 14th goal of the season.

Linfield’s Winky Murphy scored an own goal on 51 minutes, giving manager David Jeffrey the Blues.

And to add to his misery Mark McAllister was given a straight red card for stamping on a Cliftonville player.

It puts Cliftonville 12 points ahead of Linfield.

One Linfield fan moaned on Twitter: “Beaten by a better team who seemed to want to win it more. Just not good enough. Enough said.”

Around the games, Ballymena bounced back from their 6-0 drubbing by Linfield on Monday night.

They beat Crusaders 2-1 at the Ballymena Showgrounds, a good boost to manager Glenn Ferguson and his number two Lee Doherty.

Crusaders have now lost three vital points in their chase to keep in touch with Cliftonville.

Colerained dropped two points in their trip to Ballyskeagh where they drew 1-1 with Lisburn Distillery.

And Ballinamallard also lost ground on Cliftonville when they were beaten 2-1 by Portadown at Shamrock Park.

The results mean Cliftonville remain on top with 33 points; Ballinamallard on 27; Coleraine on 27; while Crusaders are a point behind on 26.

HERE ARE TODAY’S FULL TIME SCORES:

BALLYMENA UTD 2 (Davidson 28, Costello 82) CRUSADERS 1 (McCutcheon 25)

CLIFTONVILLE 3 (Caldwell 15, Boyce 21, Murphy og 51) LINFIELD 0 (McAllister s/o 62)

GLENAVON 4 (Hamilton 7, McGrory 19, Lindsay 78, Bennett 93) DONEGAL CELTIC 2 (McAllister 76, McVeigh 90

GLENTORAN 2 (Clarke 61, Waterworth 92) DUNGANNON SW 1 (Cahoon 55)

LIS DISTILLERY 1 (Simpson 74) COLERAINE 1 (Lowry 86)

PORTADOWN 2 (Patton 49, Mackle 62) BALLINAMALLARD UTD 1 (Crawford 66)