Cliftonville FC commenced their pre-season programme with a 5-1 loss to Scottish Premiership side Hibernian. The match, played at Carton House in Kildare, saw Cliftonville FC level the score with Rory Hale's equalizer after Jason Kerr's sixth-minute goal for Hibernian.

What happened in the match?

Hibernian restored their lead with Nicky Cadden's effort, which was turned into the net via the woodwork, and later extended it with Martin Boyle's low drive. Thibault Klidje opened his account for Hibernian in the second period, heading home from close range.

Key players and performances

Cliftonville FC's Joe Gormley saw a long-range chip scale the crossbar, while Conor Falls sent an effort wide. Hibernian completed the scoring with Klidje's finishing touch to Chris Cadden's ball across the face of goal.

Upcoming fixtures and league standing

Cliftonville FC, currently standing 5th in the Premiership with 47 points, 26 points behind leaders Larne, and a recent form of LWWLL, will look to bounce back in their upcoming derby clash with Crusaders, as they await their official pre-season programme to be confirmed in the coming weeks, having scored 49 goals and conceded 48 this season, with a goal difference of +1, and their last result being a 1-2 loss to Dungannon Swifts on 2026-05-09.