County Antrim Shield: Carrick Rangers beat Cliftonville in the final on penalties

Carrick Rangers won the County Antrim Shield for the first time in 33 years with a 4-2 penalty shootout win over Cliftonville after a 1-1 draw at the Seaview Stadium.

Ryan Curran’s third-minute goal put Cliftonville ahead but Adam Leckie equalized with 10 minutes remaining to send the game to penalties.

Aidan Steele scored the winning penalty after Curran and Liam McStravick had missed their penalties.

This is the second time Carrick have won the County Antrim Shield in their history.

Cliftonville got off to a bright start in the fourth minute when Joe Gormley headed Johnny Addis’ long ball into Curran’s path, and the striker made no mistake by firing into the bottom left corner from the edge of the area.

Just before the half-hour mark, Carrick had their best chance of the first half when Benjamin Buchanan Rolleston met Billy Joe Burns’ right-wing cross at the back post, but the defender failed to hit the target as the ball deflected to the wrong side of the far post.

Moments later, Gormley almost doubled the Reds’ lead after collecting the ball from Reece Jordan when he cut in from the left flank and fired it towards Scott Pengelly’s goal, but it was blocked by Jamie Callacher.

From a corner kick taken by Rory Hill, the ball eventually fell to Addis’ feet at the back post, but Pengelly pulled back sharply to deny the defender a first-time shot.

Heading into half-time, Jim Magilton’s men were unfortunate not to add a second when Hill set up Shaun Leppard in the six-yard box but the towering defender failed to hit the target.

Cliftonville’s frustration in front of goal continued in the second half when Hill curled a short free-kick to Gormley, who curled a powerful low shot over the wall but Pengelly was equal to it.

With time ticking down, Leckie’s shot was blocked by PJ Morrison before the East Antrim striker equalized from close range, and Curran then went close to scoring a winner late on when Liam McStravick fired over the bar after stretching out to meet his low cross.

Curran missed Cliftonville’s opening kick as Callacher, Luke McCullough and Danny Gibson put Carrick on the brink of the cup.

McStravick saw the penalty saved by Pengelly and Steele sent in the decisive kick to spark raucous celebrations from the Carrick players and their support.