Niall Currie feels Portadown deserved to "right the wrong" of their previous Newry City trip with dramatic last-gasp victory

The fun fair was in town but the real entertainment was taking place a few hundred metres down the road in a pulsating, back and forth contest that was more than worth braving the bitter cold for.

Portadown – knowing they realistically needed to win to keep their hopes of Danske Bank Premiership survival alive – got off to a dream start and were 2-0 up inside 20 minutes thanks to goals from Stephen Teggart and Paul McElroy.

Currie then watched on in pure horror as the hosts pulled one back through an own goal from a corner that Portadown disputed and the pair were level going into half-time when John McGovern tapped home from close range following good work from Ola Adeyemo, who was the bright spark for Newry.

It got even better for the home faithful when Brian Healy struck in the 79th minute to complete the comeback, but that was just the start of the drama as the Ports netted twice in as many injury time minutes – Josh Archer equalised before Benny Ighiehon scored his first goal for the Shamrock Park outfit – to seal what could turn out to be a vital three points in determining the final standings.

Currie and most of the visiting bench ended up on the pitch along with the travelling Ports fans in scenes those in attendance will savour and remember, especially if it helps to further spark their survival dream.

It’s the second time they have beaten Newry at the Showgrounds this season but the first victory was taken away from them after they were found guilty of a breach of Premiership Rules by the NI Football League Competitions Committee.

"Let's just say it was talked about before the game,” said Currie. “I told the players to go and right the wrong.

"This is a huge club and if the Irish League loses this club again it's a real pity for the Irish League and I don't care what anybody says - there aren't too many teams that bring that atmosphere to games.

"The six-point swing that we lost down here earlier in the season wasn't just about us losing three, but Newry gained three - it was a six-point swing.

"Things would be a lot tighter if that didn't happen and I still feel we didn't do a lot wrong. That was a huge swing in the season.”

Portadown are now only five points adrift of 11th-placed Dungannon Swifts – who lost to Carrick Rangers on Saturday – with seven games to play, but Currie still believes escaping the drop is an uphill task.

"Dungannon losing to Carrick is a big lift for us,” he added.

"We thought the door was shut and if they win today it's a long, long way back. We know it's a massive ask - we're going to have to win five games the rest of the season, which we haven't done in 20-odd games.

"We're now in the situation where we can beat the teams around us and we all know that. The signings we made in January shows that this club wouldn't be in the situation it's in right now if we had got the right personnel in but we had to bide our time. The squad we have now is a very competitive bottom-six team.

"We're at that stage now where everything is highly unlikely if we're being realistic about it but we're giving it a go and that's all our supporters want us to do. I said to the players that if we're going out, we're going out on our shield holding nothing back.

"That's as good as it gets for any manager. It's not good for my health but if you're going to win a game of football it's the ideal scenario.

"I think sometimes bravery gets its rewards and I think we were brave to do what we did. I'm not talking about myself - I'm talking about my backroom staff and the players on the pitch.

"Some of them made their own decisions and we knew we needed to get three points.

"I've told them all to go home and have a great night with their families because that was a stressful day and I'm so looking forward to getting a nice bottle of Sauvignon blanc and every drop of it will be drank tonight!"