Portadown manager Niall Currie rues 'missed opportunity' in defeat to Newry City

With 11th-placed Dungannon Swifts going down 2-0 against Carrick Rangers, victory at Shamrock Park on Tuesday night for the Ports would have left Currie’s side only two points adrift at the bottom with three games to play – including a trip to Dungannon on April 22.

Instead it was James Teelan’s third goal in two matches that sealed a second consecutive league win for Newry to bring the Showgrounds outfit five points clear of a potential relegation play-off.

"As I said to the players after I think we had a wonderful opportunity tonight - an unbelievable opportunity on the back of a really fantastic performance on Friday night,” Currie told PortsTV. “There was no lack of effort but a real lack of quality.

"We had 30 set pieces in that game and still didn't look like scoring, we weren't aggressive in their box and there's only so many times you can go to the well.

"A month ago we had a wonderful opportunity to get it down to four points against Carrick and we put in a no-show and I think we put in a no-show again tonight.

"I'm not criticising the players for effort levels but we have four or five players that we look at to change games and just weren't at the races tonight. There was no quality.

"I think the worst case scenario is you get a draw out of that. Their goal is awful too - a couple of real individual errors in there.

"I think the big disappointment is we always look at ourselves and there was no lack of effort from the players but that's twice we've had wonderful opportunities to get the points down.

"We've worked so hard to claw the gap and close it down and we've done it on two occasions now. We had the opportunity to get it down to four against Carrick and two points with Dungannon beaten. It's a huge opportunity missed.

"Sometimes you're speechless. I'm not going to criticise the players for effort levels but I was so disappointed in our lack of quality in the last third of the pitch and our decision-making.

"Our decision-making in vital moments was wrong everywhere and unfortunately we had four or five guys weigh in with no-shows. You simply can't carry that - you can carry one or two players in a game but not four or five guys who unfortunately it wasn't their night and had poor performances.

"The Carrick game and now tonight have been the two most disappointing games of the season since I took over.

"Never mind getting beat by Linfield or Glentoran - that game tonight and the Carrick defeat a month ago is every bit as deflating because of the reasons why.

"We've worked so hard to give ourselves a chance, to claw the big lead they had back again and we've missed the opportunity.

"We put in a poor performance there's no doubt about it but it's everything to the pump on Saturday. As much as we missed a wonderful opportunity let's see - if we can do our end of it and get a result against Carrrick then you never know."