Cliftonville are back in the BetMcLean Cup decider for the first time in three seasons, and all at the club will be pushing for another success to make it six wins from their last six finals, and seven victories in total.

The Reds first won the competition in 2003/04, but then had to wait almost a decade for their next success which then sparked a period of dominance that produced four victories in a row before a break for a few years and that dramatic defeat of Coleraine in the record breaking first Sunday final in March 2022.

In front of just over 11,000 spectators, Cliftonville came from two goals down before powering on to defeat the Bannsiders in extra-time.

Scoreless at the break, Coleraine moved in front on 58 minutes through Matthew Shevlin who fired home against the run of play after Lyndon Kane had slipped him in to beat the advancing Luke McNicholas.

With their tails up, the Bannsiders doubled their advantage just five minutes after that when Stephen Lowry turned the ball home in off the crossbar after that ball had dropped for him from a corner.

But back came Cliftonville. Joe Gormley reduced the arrears on 74 minutes with a header after connecting with Ryan Curran's cross from the left.

Then, right at the end of normal time, Paul O'Neill levelled when he pounced on the loose ball after Gormley's initial effort came back off the crossbar.

Coleraine were reduced to ten men a couple of minutes into extra-time when, following an off the ball incident, James McLaughlin was shown a straight red card by referee Andrew Davey.

That proved to be the catalyst for the Reds to push on to secure the win.

O'Neill doubled his tally on 104 minutes with a shot high into the roof of the net after meeting Chris Curran's cross from the right.

And, three minutes after that, victory was assured when Gormley also bagged his second of the game with a tap in into the empty net from another Ryan Curran ball.

Curtis Allen did add a third for Coleraine right at the end of extra-time but by then there was no way back.

The Reds' first triumph came back in 2003/04 with victory over Larne on penalties following a 1-1 draw at Windsor Park.

Derek Delaney had given Larne the lead on 11 minutes, an advantage they held for over an hour before Keith Mulvenna headed home Conor Hagan's free-kick.

In the shoot-out, Reds keeper Paul Straney assumed hero status by making the only save to deny Emmanuel Maxwell and subsequently bring the trophy to Solitude for the first time.

Fast forward to 2012/13 and the beginning of a period that saw Cliftonville dominate the competition.

Coming up against old foes Crusaders in the January decider, the Reds turned in a clinical performance to emerge 4-0 winners.

Goals midway through the first half by Diarmuid O'Carroll and Joe Gormley put Tommy Breslin's men into a commanding position at the end of the first half, with Gormley adding a third after the break before Ryan Catney rounded the scoring off with around a quarter-of-an-hour remaining.

Twelve months later the north Belfast neighbours contested the final again, this time held at Solitude.

Cliftonville swept aside allcomers in their cup defence, hitting 14 goals and conceding none, and there was another clean sheet in the decider.

Conor Devlin kept the Crues at bay in what was a disappointing scoreless draw, and also went on to make a couple of saves from Colin Coates and Jordan Owens in the penalty shoot-out that was ultimately required to separate the sides.

Cliftonville made it a hat-trick of victories in a much more entertaining encounter a year later.

Ballymena United provided the opposition on this occasion, and fought back through two David Cushley goals to level on the hour after Gormley had bagged a first half double, including the opener after barely 55 seconds.

However, Breslin's charges weren't ready to relinquish their hold on the trophy just yet and so, with ten minutes remaining, a poor Tony Kane header fell straight for Marty Donnelly to blast home what proved to be the winner.

It was back to Solitude the following February as the Reds became the first side to reach four consecutive League Cup finals and, as it turned out, also the first to win it four times on the trot.

Standing in their way were Ards, then playing in the Championship, which presented Cliftonville - now managed by Gerard Lyttle - the opportunity to gain revenge for a penalty loss to their North Down opponents in the 1994/95 final.

After a tentative start, Martin Donnelly fired the Reds in front with a curling effort just inside the post ten minutes before the break. David McDaid then added a second on 62 minutes before Stephen Garrett made sure of yet another triumph with seven minutes remaining.