Irish Cup exit won't define our season, says Stuart King as Carrick Rangers boss eyes League points before the split

The Amber Army broke the deadlock with just five minutes on the clock as Danny Purkis had a simple tap-in after Curtis Allen’s free-kick was parried by Ports stopper Aaron Hogg.

However, Portadown – who started all five new January signings – responded when Jack Henderson’s free-kick was met at the back post by Zach Barr who scored on his debut on 22 minutes.

Both teams would chances thereafter but neither could convert – including in extra-time – meaning the fifth round tie would be decided via penalties.

Purkis would miss the first spot-kick of the of the shoot-out with Portadown converting all five as King’s men exited the competition on penalties for a second successive year.

"It's penalties again for us...we never seem to get on the right side of it,” said King.

"My team talk was all about matching their effort and commitment and I thought our quality would shine through, but I thought our quality wasn't there today.

"We stopped doing what we were doing. We were putting the ball in behind and we knew we would joy if we put the ball down the sides.

"When it went to extra time I thought there was only one team who looked like winning it to be honest, we missed a couple of really good opportunities.

"When it goes to penalties it's just a lottery.

"Fair play to Portadown, but it's not going to define our season.”

Despite being disappointed with the defeat, King alluded to the fact that his side can now solely focus on gaining points in the League.

He added: "We will see how many points we can get now until the middle of March.

"We have nine games until then and five of them are against teams in the bottom six, so that's where we are.

"We have Linfield at home which is a big one before the split but we've got a host of big games.

"I am disappointed with today as it's a big opportunity missed but what I will say is that we have massive games coming up and we have to be competitive.”