McFall pleased with showing as Ports keep cup tie alive
PORTADOWN celebrated the opening of their magnificent new £1.2 million grandstand with a battling display against Premiership side Cliftonville in the third round, first leg tie at Shamrock Park.
It was like old times for the Ports who lost their cherished place in the senior ranks due to an administrative blunder, with a big crowd enjoying the state-of-the-art 1,800 seat grandstand.
But just as important for the home fans was the proof that their team is still capable of holding its own with the big boys, and they were certainly not overawed by the opposition.
Whether the result will be enough to clinch a place for Portadown in the next round remains to be seen, as they face a daunting task at Solitude in the second leg on November 12.
Manager Ronnie McFall was happy with the performance and is convinced the tie is still wide open. But he was far from happy at the dismissal of centre half and captain John Convery who was red-carded six minutes from the end.
Convery, already booked, was sent off by Fermanagh referee Andy Hunter after a tussle with Cliftonville's Rory Hamill, who received a yellow card.
"I thought it was harsh, and the referee was a bit too quick to hand out yellow cards tonight," said big Ronnie, who was delighted with his team's fighting spirit.
"We went into this match without a number of key players, and we had guys like Richard Lecky and Johnny Topley, both just back after illness and injury, but they gave it their all and I am proud of them."
Reds counterpart Eddie Patterson was happy to take a draw at Shamrock Park, and he also pointed out he was missing several key players.
"We have to be satisfied as a draw was probably a fair result. We still have it all to do and although we now have home advantage, this is a tie which is still very open," he declared.
Cliftonville, after a slow start, bossed the last 25 minutes of the first half and could have taken the lead but for some fine defensive work by Portadown, with Convery and Keith O'Hara outstanding.
The match took a long time to open up and it was 26 minutes before the first real scoring chance when George McMullan forced his way through but was denied by David Miskelly's fine save.
On 35 minutes there was danger for the Ports when Convery conceded a free kick on the edge of the box for a foul on Mark Holland which earned the big defender a booking.
Holland took the kick but his well struck effort was blocked by the home wall.
Cliftonville were running things in midfield at this stage, but just couldn't break down a stubborn resistance.
It was a different story after the interval with Portadown inspired by Lecky and Topley launching a series of promising attacks. This saw the best effort of the night with Topley forcing Reds keeper John Connolly to make a spectacular diving save to turn a great shot around the post.
Ports came close when defender Andy Hunter was just inches wide with a free kick, while at the other end Barry Holland connected perfectly with a Hamill corner kick only to grace the upright.
Tim Mouncey and Wesley Boyle both came close to breaking the deadlock, and in 64 minutes a fine move almost brought its reward for the home side. Gary McCutcheon sent Lecky racing away on the right wing, but his cross was too close to the goalkeeper, with Mouncey ready to pounce at the far post.
On 74 minutes Kieran O’Connor came mighty close to giving Cliftonville the lead, but once again Miskelly foiled the visitors with an excellent save.
In the closing stages McCutcheon for the Ports, and Hamill for the north Belfast team created promising openings which were wasted.
Portadown: Miskelly, McCluskey, O’Hara, Hunter, Convery, Topley, Boyle, Mouncey, McCutcheon (Braniff 83), Lecky, Teggart.
Cliftonville: Connolly, Scannell, B Johnston, O’Hara, M Holland, Hamill, McMullan, Donaghy, B Holland, O’Neill (Boyce 76), O’Connor.
Referee: Arnold Hunter (Co Fermanagh)
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Weather for Belfast
Wednesday 15 February 2012
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