UNFORTUNATELY this Group D encounter at Stangmore Park will be remembered less for the football and more the three red cards issued by referee Stephen Weatherall.

On the pitch, though, it was Dungannon who had the better start when David Scullion nodded narrowly over after eight minutes with Rodney McAree doing something similar a quarter-of-an-hour later.

However, barely sixty seconds later, McAree was the recipient of the first card of the day for a two-footed tackle on Chris Scannell.

This prompted a melee involving almost every player the outcome of which saw Scannell himself going for an early bath.

George McMullan came close for the Reds moments from the break - and this set the tone for the remainder of the game.

Cliftonville assumed control in the second half with Gary Kennedy (twice) and Conor Downey testing Swifts keeper Dwayne Nelson.

The visitors were reduced to nine men on 62 minutes when Downey was shown yet another red card following an incident with Shane McCabe.