A criticism of Cliftonville last season when they attempted to retain their title was that they didn’t have the squad capable of challenging on four fronts in comparison to Glentoran’s.
Their frontline players invariably lined out just about in every game they could which appeared to take its toll as they finished second and lost the Irish Cup final against the Glens.
How the tables turned this campaign however, as the Reds have won the league in style, retained the League Cup and are in the Women’s Challenge Cup final later this month against Lisburn Rangers.
They brought in experienced Women’s Premiership players in Erin McAllister and Carla Devine from Linfield as well as Sion Swifts trio Aoibhe O’Neill, Naomi McLaughlin and Tasmin McCartan.
McAllister quickly established herself as Cliftonville’s number one goalkeeper and pulled off a number of good saves throughout the season, whilst Devine has been the perfect impact player off the bench.
She has netted 10 league goals and has provided a more direct option to replace or play alongside Caitlin McGuinness.
O’Neill, McLaughlin and McCartan’s minutes have been limited but they have stepped in and performed well when called upon when Reds manager John McGrady opted to rotate.
None more so than McLaughlin, who despite having an injury-plagued season, scored twice as Cliftonville beat Linfield 5-2 last month.