Chris Scannell grabbed a brace and Kieran O’Connor sandwiched one between them as the Reds dished out the blues to unpredictable Dungannon Swifts, but the man of the match accolade indisputably went to will of the wisp midfielder George McMullan.

McMullan, revelling in his roving midfield role, created the chances for all three goals in the 3-0 win – and he was only denied one for himself by a sturdy Dungannon crossbar. His perfect centre set up Chris Scannell’s telling header on 15 minutes, an equally delightful cross less than 60 seconds later looped over Dwayne Nelson by Kieran O’Connor and a deft low corner with pace from McMullan smacked home by Scannell at the back post to kill off the game on 49 minutes.

“Hopefully, having knocked on the door of a good performance, this is the start of a winning streak. I was very fortunate to be involved in all three goals as myself Fra Murphy and Rory Hamill would rotate the role I was playing today” said McMullan, who definitely impressed JP Gallagher.

The quality Swifts defender, currently being linked with a January move to Windsor Park, offered no mitigation for a poor performance.

“We were really off the pace in some key positions and got exactly what we deserved from the game. A win would have been a massive boost for us but instead Cliftonville, inspired by George McMullan and his superb crosses, are on the rise and we go back to the drawing board,” said the Strabane native.

With Linfield rumoured to be ready to submit a bid to sign Gallagher, the player isn’t paying any attention to the speculation.

“I have heard this and read some stories but, without an official approach, it is hard to give the speculation any real credit.,” he added.

“After all, this is the time of year for those types of tale to be in circulation. I haven’t paid much heed to the rumours, focusing all my attention on Dungannon Swifts.

“Every player wants to take their career as far as they can, Linfield are the best team on the island — and an approach would leave me with a big dilemma.”