Ballymena United made it back-to-back wins for the first time this season in the Irish Premiership after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Cliftonville at Solitude.

Igor Rutkowski scored for the fourth game in succession as the Sky Blues followed up last week's win over Portadown.

Cliftonville played the entire second half with 10 men after teenage defender Paul Stanfield was sent off on his full Premiership debut for a second yellow card in first half injury time.

The result means Cliftonville have now lost four successive league games, three of them without scoring.

After a quiet opening half-hour, Cliftonville came within a whisker of taking the lead when Rhyss Campbell's low shot crashed off the inside of the post before being cleared.

Ballymena had few sights of goal but Cliftonville defender Kyle McClelland had to be sharp to block an Igor Rutkowski shot inside the penalty area.

The Reds had another opening when Brian Healy turned sharply in the box but with a clear sight of goal, Ballymena defender Kodi Lyons-Foster threw himself at the ball to divert the effort behind.

But just as Cliftonville were starting to get on top, they were dealt a blow in first half stoppage time when teenage defender Paul Stanfield was shown a second yellow card after catching Caoimhin McConnell with a high challenge.

Ballymena tried to make their numerical advantage count at the start of the second period with PJ Morrison making a sharp save to deny James Hood after a quickly taken short free kick by Finley Thorndike and then a minute later, the Scottish keeper did well to block a Thorndike effort.

But the visitors did go in front on 58 minutes when Caoimhin McConnell's shot was blocked but Rutkowski was first to react to smash home the loose ball.

Cliftonville spurned a glorious chance to level soon afterwards when substitute Liam McStravick won back possession just outside the Ballymena penalty area and bore down on goal, but David Walsh stuck out a foot to make a vital stop.

There was late drama deep in stoppage time when Cliftonville striker Brian Healy collided with Ballymena keeper David Walsh as the pair chased a loose ball inside the penalty area but with the home side appealing for a penalty, referee Steven Gregg instead awarded a goal kick.

Cliftonville boss Jim Magilton: "Frustrating. We had really good chances in the first half – we've hit the inside of the post and Brian [Healy] has had a great chance.

"We didn't take those chances then we're down to 10 men. It's a harsh lesson for young Paul [Stanfield] but you have to take that and we re-grouped and went very attack-minded in how we set up.

"The one at the end is a really poor decision from the referee. Brian is through, David [Walsh] has come rushing out, he nicks it over him, there's contact…it's a penalty. We definitely deserved something from the game.

"We were well beaten at Larne but the other three games we were bang in them, it was just poor decisions that cost us but the character and personality that we showed today, down to 10 men, is what we have to show now."

Ballymena United boss Oran Kearney: "The red card probably changes the game at half-time. Probably up until we scored, we were looking stronger at 11 against 10 and were making the extra man work but from after we scored the goal, the players had that look about them that they didn't know whether to stick or twist.

"It probably turned into more of an uncomfortable afternoon than we wanted it to be, but the ultimate aspect was the three points so we'll take that and move on.

"We have picked up wins sporadically – the hard part in this league is to go back-to-back, particularly at the venue we're at today and it's a big three points for us."