Cliftonville complete treble with Women's Challenge Cup win

Cliftonville completed a domestic treble with a 5-0 victory against Lisburn Rangers in the Women's Challenge Cup final at Windsor Park.

A hat-trick from Caitlin McGuinness and goals from Louise McDaniel and Victoria Carleton helped the Reds lift the trophy for the first time since 2015.

The win caps off a remarkable season for Cliftonville, who won all 16 of their Women's Premiership games to take the league crown.

They also beat Lisburn Rangers in the final of the League Cup earlier this season.

It was Cliftonville who started the game with intent on their treble chase, as Marissa Callaghan and Kirsty McGuinness both had efforts off target in the early stages.

McDaniel then broke the deadlock on six minutes in fine fashion, firing home first time with outside of her boot inside the box after being found by Caitlin McGuinness.

A minute later Lisburn almost responded as Sophie Megaw's curling low shot from the left-hand side of the area was palmed away by Erin McAllister.

Caitlin McGuinness twice squandered chances before doubling Cliftonville's lead on 15 minutes.

She produced a cool close-range finish after latching onto Danielle Maxwell's pass and racing through on goal.

Lisburn Rangers continued to threaten on the counter-attack and went close to pulling a goal back on 21 minutes.

Ellie-Mae Dixon fed Gracie Conway, but she snatched at the shot and her effort from distance was pushed away by McAllister.

Captain Kelsie Burrows almost netted a third before the break, but her first time effort cannoned back off the post after a corner fell to her at the back post.

It was a much slower start to the second half from both sides, with the damage seemingly alread done in the first half by the Reds.

Callaghan had a volley saved by Higgins before her effort from range bounced off the post moments later.

The Reds would rattle the woodwork for the third time on 57 minutes as Hannah Doherty let fly from outside the box and saw her powerful effort crash off the crossbar.

Kirsty McGuinness blasted into the side netting from a narrow angle after darting into the box as the Reds continued to search for an elusive third goal.

It would duly follow on 67 minutes as Caitlin McGuinness doubled her tally for the evening.

Callaghan took advantage of a poor kick out from Higgins to lay the ball into McGuinness' path and she did the rest, blasting home a shot in off the post.

Substitute Victoria Carleton rounded off the scoring with a close range volley inside the area.

Caitlin McGuinness capped off a fine individual display by completing her hat-trick on 87 minutes with a composed finish as the Reds ended a fairytale season on the domestic front.