 Mark Holland put Cliftonville into the lead at Windsor Park |
Goals from Mark Holland and Kieran O'Connor helped holders Cliftonville beat a lacklustre Linfield 2-0 in the Co Antrim Shield quarter-final. Holland superbly lobbed the opener on 31 minutes after Noel Bailie had failed to head back to keeper Alan Mannus.
O'Connor glanced home Chris Scannell's cross on 63 minutes to double Cliftonville's advantage at Windsor.
Peter Thompson and Aidan O'Kane went close for the Blues thereafter but the away side were worthy winners.
Thompson's backheader was cleared by Declan O'Hara in the 68th minute while O'Kane's free-kick was deflected inches over by his team-mate Mark Dickson seconds later.
O'Kane blasted over the bar in the 77th minute but Linfield were unable to summon up their usual late pressure with the Reds comfortably maintaining their lead.
Cliftonville's win sets up a semi-final clash against Glentoran at Windsor on 2 October.
The second semi-final between Crusaders and Ballymena will take place 24 hours later.
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