David Healy hails Linfield substitute's 'decisive impact' as Portadown boss Niall Currie celebrates 'brave' play
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The battling Ports were undone in a dramatic two-minute spell just seconds after half-time as substitute Chris McKee drilled home a Kirk Millar pass with his first touch and repeated the act in the very next attack, with Matthew Fitzpatrick producing the assist.
But the Ports failed to wilt after that devastating double whammy and substitute Paul McElroy scored from close range after David Walsh had saved an Eamon Fyfe blockbuster.
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Hide Ad“I thought we were brave the way we played, we were a constant threat,” he said. “There were a few moments we should have done better (in front of goal), but David Walsh made three or four incredible saves.


“There are small margins between winning and losing and that was a small margin game...I couldn’t have been any prouder of the players.
“We get those guys for an hour-and-a-half on Tuesday and Thursday, we totally trust and rely on them to keep their fitness levels right.
“We rely on them doing a little bit extra themselves, we can’t pay them, we can’t afford to pay them. Their fitness levels are a credit to them. I think our boys were as fit as Linfield, who are a full-time outfit.
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Hide Ad“If we stay humble, keep our feet on the ground and keep working as hard as they are doing, we know we will hurt teams.”
Linfield manager David Healy admitted his team found it difficult to break down Portadown’s resolute defence in the first 45 minutes.
“We couldn’t quite work out in the first half, how and where we could hurt them,” he said. “We knew what way they would play.
"We altered our shape for the last 10 minutes (of the first half), to have a look at it, just to see where we could get a little bit more joy.
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Hide Ad“Chris made a decisive impact and his two finishes were top-drawer. He came on in a deeper role, that was the reason we put him in there.
“To be honest, Chris isn’t 100 per cent fit. He was out for quite a spell and he still short of completing a larger part of the game. We need to be careful with him.”