Niall Currie believes Portadown star who has 'taken a big weight on his shoulders' is back to his best after Goal of the Season contender
Portadown manager Niall Currie feels star striker Ahu Obhakhan is back to his best after scoring a ‘Goal of the Season’ contender in their weekend draw with Cliftonville and has challenged his squad to end the campaign on a high as they chase a top-half Premiership finish.
Obhakhan arrived at Shamrock Park last summer and has impressed in his debut Irish League campaign, netting seven times in 26 Premiership outings to help Currie’s men sit amongst the contenders for European football.
The 27-year-old’s superb backheel flick which looped over Reds goalkeeper David Odumosu has received widespread praise with the clip viewed almost 200,000 times on Sky Sports Football’s official X account.
He began two league matches on the bench last month before returning from the start in a 1-1 draw against Larne and starred again as the Ports collected a point at Solitude.
With only nine points separating third-placed Dungannon Swifts and Glenavon in tenth, a host of teams, including Portadown, are all chasing a spot in the league’s top-half, which would guarantee a place in the European play-offs.
"He seems to like them - he won't be too far away from both Goal of the Month and Year!" Currie told the club’s media channel on Obhakhan’s opener. “It's great to have him firing again.
"We felt we needed to rest him for a few games to get him right and freshened up because he has taken a big weight on his shoulders all season. He looks fresh again and looks hungry.
"The character of our boys this season has been outstanding. So many times we've been behind and even when we were 3-0 down a few weeks back against Linfield, they showed character in the second half.
"I think the character they've shown all season in regards to staying in the game...I get frustrated at the goals we concede because I think ours are avoidable whereas we have to work really hard to score goals. I can't complain.
"They've been a credit to the club all season and my challenge to everybody now...it's been a wonderful two-thirds of the season and we are in a place nobody thought we'd be, but we want to finish the season right.
"We know we can hurt teams - we've enough weaponry and other teams know that now. We're not talking about where we're going to finish or anything like that, our boys have been top drawer."
Portadown host defending champions Larne, who suffered a likely decisive blow to their Premiership title hopes after losing to Linfield, this weekend and will be looking to replicate a memorable 1-0 triumph from earlier this season when Shay McCartan netted a winner from inside his own half.
"We're excited to have the champions back again,” added Currie. “These are all wonderful days for the club.
"The bottom line is as long as we're right then we can give them all a competitive game. That was our aim when we came back into the league and we've done that so far.
"There's still a long way to go and a lot of football to be played, but you make hay while the sun is shining and I'm very proud of them."