11 years since 11-0: The 'mad 25 minutes' that helped Portadown write their name in the Irish League history books

Usually such a result can be forecasted ahead of time if two teams enter a fixture with conflicting fortunes or an immense gulf in quality, but that wasn’t the case in September 2013 – Whitey Anderson’s Ballinamallard had started the campaign by beating Crusaders and also defeated Warrenpoint Town, while Portadown, led by Ronnie McFall, were coming off a 2-1 defeat to Ballymena United four days prior.

Goals from Peter McMahon, Gary Twigg and Kevin Braniff had sent the hosts into half-time with a comfortable lead and it wasn’t until the 65th minute where a dramatic spell – the likes of which the top-flight hasn’t seen since or maybe ever will again – began.

Both Twigg and Braniff would complete hat-tricks while Darren Murray’s brace, McMahon’s second and a Ryan McStay strike were further compounded by two Ballinamallard red cards on an unforgettable afternoon.

The closest Portadown’s record has came to being broken was when Crusaders defeated Carrick Rangers 9-0 last season, but Emmet Friars, who played for McFall’s side during the historic triumph, is confident it’ll never be surpassed.

"It wasn't an 11-0 game if that makes sense...more just a mad 25 minutes,” he recalls. “Ballinamallard were a really good side with top quality players, but any Irish League side down to nine men, especially against Gary Twigg, Darren Murray and Kevin Braniff, are going to really struggle.

"I went to play for Ballinamallard not long after and Whitey Anderson kept trying to play out and keep the ball, but there were mad overloads in our advantage and we punished them. I kept thinking 'you're 7-0 down, take your beating and move on', but Whitey always wanted to play the right way and they were generally brilliant at it.

"I've never been involved in anything like that - or even remotely close - before or since. It was just a really strange day and I always remember thinking after that it'll be a long time before that record is ever challenged or beaten."

Ex-Shamrock Rovers star Twigg enjoyed a goal-laden two-and-a-half years with Portadown before joining Coleraine while Northern Ireland international Braniff excelled in the Irish League for over a decade, but departed the Shamrock Park outfit a matter of months after their Ballinamallard triumph for Australia.

Both players had natural finishing instincts and Friars, who didn’t manage to get his name on the scoresheet that afternoon – much to his father’s amusement – says there was no way the pair were going to settle for five or six.

"No (you don’t feel sorry for the opposition) - you just want to score more and every player wants to get their name on the scoresheet,” he added. “I didn't manage to score that day and my dad called me after the match to say '11 goals and you didn't score one - what's going on?!' so he enjoyed that one.

"When you play at that level and know it's your day, people's confidence gets up and for opposition players it's difficult with nine men. Sometimes things don't go your way and a bad day can get even worse and good players want to weigh in.

"Ruthless players like Gary Twigg want to put the ball in the net, want to claim match balls and want their name in the paper every week, and rightly so. Without doubt they were two of the best players in Ireland - north or south of the border - for a number of years.

"Kevin played his whole career in the Irish League and was always one of the best players and Gary was always in the top-five in either league. Gary was an out-and-out goalscorer and Kevin was a match-winner."

Much to Ballinamallard’s credit, they responded immediately from the thumping, beating Coleraine 2-1 away the following weekend and in the reverse fixture against the Ports at Ferney Park two months later ran out 2-1 winners.

While they ultimately finished their second top-flight campaign in 10th, Portadown came fourth, which Friars feels was an underachievement considering the quality that team possessed – Murray (23) and Twigg (19) ended the term second and fifth respectively on the goalscoring charts.

"That was a really strong team and we were sitting top of the league for a time before we tailed off,” he said. “We'd a very strong squad – Sean Mackle, David Miskelly in goal, Peter McMahon, Garry Breen, Chris Casement, Chris Ramsey, Neil McCafferty were all there.

"I think we might have underachieved that year by finishing fourth...we went on a bad run after sitting top of the league. That was a really strong squad Ronnie put together."

Legendary Irish League boss McFall won four league titles and three Irish Cup crowns across 30 years at the Shamrock Park helm, where he took charge of 1,483 matches.

Since retiring, Friars has made his own transition into management, taking on a first job with Dergview last season, and the 38-year-old was able to soak up valuable lessons which he’ll carry forward.

"It was really interesting working under Ronnie,” he reflected. “I played under what I'd think are the best managers in Stephen Kenny, David Jeffrey, Stephen Baxter and Ronnie McFall.

"They were all different. Ronnie didn't really go into too much detail with his players - he signed a lot of good players and let them play their game and pushed them really hard to get the most out of them. He was really good at that.

"It was a different style to the others I played under but I learned so much from him as a player that knew he wanted to go on and become a coach and manager."

PORTADOWN 11 – 0 BALLINAMALLARD UNITED

TEAMS

PORTADOWN: David Miskelly, Garry Breen, Chris Casement, Emmet Friars, Chris Ramsey (Ryan McStay, 21), Johnny Black, Neil McCafferty (Padraig Judge, 78), Peter McMahon, Kevin Braniff (Tim Mouncey, 83), Darren Murray, Gary Twigg.

Unused subs: Billy Brennan, Matthew Rooney.

BALLINAMALLARD: Feargal Murphy, Mark Stafford, Danny Keohane, Leon Carters (Steve Feeney, 68), John Currie, Stuart Hutchinson (Gary Phair, 62), Duwayne McManus, Andy Crawford, Nathan Cashel (Richard Lecky, 35), Ryan Campbell, Jason McCartney.

Unused subs: Alvin Rouse, Cathal Beacom.