STORY OF THE MATCH: Portadown 2 Cliftonville 3 - Reds stage second-half fightback

Jordan Gibson put Portadown into control but Cliftonville’s impressive second-half fightback featured goals from Joe Sheridan, Ryan Curran and Jack Keaney in a 3-2 away success as Rhys Annett’s last-gasp effort offered little home consolation.

F-T: Portadown 2 Cliftonville 3

94: GOAL – Portadown 2 (Annett) Cliftonville 3

Sub Annett cuts the gap with effectively the final kick of the game by slotting home beyond Morrison

Portadown and Cliftonville at Shamrock Park in the Sports Direct Premiership. (Photo by National World)placeholder image
Portadown and Cliftonville at Shamrock Park in the Sports Direct Premiership. (Photo by National World)

92: YELLOW (Cliftonville) - Gormley

90: SUB (Cliftonville) - Falls on for Curran

88: GOAL – Portadown 1 Cliftonville 3 (Keaney) Hale’s corner-kick from the left is headed home via Keaney at the far post. A simple goal in execution but devastating to home hopes

82: SUB (Portadown) - Annett on for Teelan

76: SUBS (Portadown) – Minzamba and Quinn on for Thompson and Ukek

75: SUBS (Cliftonville) – Pepper and Gormley on for Sheridan and McWoods

74: Positive Portadown response to falling behind but Wylie's strike is unable to trouble Morrison

70: GOAL – Portadown 1 Cliftonville 2 (Curran)

Curran makes no mistake from the penalty sport to turn the tables on hosts Portadown

69: Penalty to Cliftonville - handball against Ukek off Sheridan's ball

67: SUB (Portadown) – Wilson on for Gibson

61: YELLOW (Cliftonville) – Sheridan

57: Keaney, Sheridan and Hawthorne linking up around the box before the latter fires high and wide

55: GOAL - Portadown 1 Cliftonville 1 (Sheridan)

Early second-half away pressure rewarded as Sheridan twists and turns, showing slick footwork before steering the ball into the bottom corner with a clever finish

53: Sheridan's header off a Keaney cross is collected by McCarey

H-T: Portadown 1 Cliftonville 0

33: GOAL - Portadown 1 (Gibson) Cliftonville 0

Curran's header comes back off the post for Cliftonville then Portadown counter and good work involving Fyfe at the heart ends with Ukek's ball across forced home by Gibson via the underside of the bar

26: Clever body feint on the edge of the box by Wylie to let the ball drift across on to his left side and the angled low drive falls the wrong side of the far post

16: McCarey gathers Keaney's first-time shot in the penalty area off Hawthorne's cut-back pass

12: Growing home pressure as Teelan's effort at a stretch is just wide at the expense of a Portadown corner-kick which Fyfe delivers and Ukek's glancing near-post header drifts just over the bar

9: YELLOW (Portadown) - Altintop

3: Casey's searching ball from deep down the inside-right channel has Altintop attempting to shepherd the ball back to goalkeeper McCarey but McWoods puts him under pressure in the box before the threat ends

PORTADOWN: Aaron McCarey, Divin Isamala, Baris Altintop, Lewis MacKinnon, Ben Wylie, Josh Ukek, Steven McCullough, Jordan Gibson, Eamon Fyfe, James Teelan, Gary Thompson.

Subs: Alex Moore, Jamie Rea, Luke Wilson, Ryan Mayse, Tabu Rabby Minzamba, Rhys Annett, Ben Quinn.

CLIFTONVILLE: Peter Morrison, Thomas Lavery, Jonny Addis, Harry Wilson, Rory Hale, Ryan Curran, Odhran Casey, Jack Keaney, Eric McWoods, Keevan Hawthorne, Joe Sheridan.

Subs: Lewis Ridd, Conor Pepper, Conor Falls, Brandon Bermingham, Shaun Leppard, Joe Gormley, Conor Barr.

Referee: Evan Boyce.

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