Andy Smith scored his first league goal for Ballymena

Ballymena moved into seventh position in the league with a deserved 2-0 win over Cliftonville at Solitude.

Noel Anderson and Nathan McConnell went close for United in the first half with Ronan Scannell having a chance to open the scoring for the Reds.

McConnell headed in an Andy Smith cross in the 68th minute and Smith fired low past Paul McKane after a mistake by Declan O'Hara two minutes later.

David Cushley almost added a third with one minute of the game remaining.

Ballymena had the first chance of the match when Anderson headed strongly from Cushley's corner but McKane palmed the ball away to safety.

Scannell then lashed a shot at goal but Dwayne Nelson did well to hold onto the ball.

After 31 minutes, Michael Smith crossed and McKane produced a fine stop to deny Anderson's shot.

The ball was pushed to McConnell but his strike was cleared off the line by George McMullan.

United took control in the second half, with those two goals within two minutes and secured a precious three points in the process.

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