WHAT THE MANAGER SAID: Niall Currie clear 'I call it how I see it' after day of drama in Portadown draw

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Portadown rescued a share of the spoils from the home date with Carrick Rangers as Shay McCartan recovered from own goal disappointment to grab a last-gasp equaliser in style.

Here’s the verdict of Portadown boss Niall Currie on the 1-1 draw:

OVERALL PERFORMANCE...

"I call it how I see it...we definitely didn't deserve to win the game today, that's for sure.

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Portadown manager Niall Currie (centre). (Photo by David Maginnis/Pacemaker Press)Portadown manager Niall Currie (centre). (Photo by David Maginnis/Pacemaker Press)
Portadown manager Niall Currie (centre). (Photo by David Maginnis/Pacemaker Press)

"If you don't deserve to win then get something out of the game, that's my motto.

"Credit goes to Carrick, they were very good.

"I'm over-the-moon getting a point from that, I didn't see us scoring.

"I didn't think we were a threat or showing any of the previous creativity.

"I thought it was going to be one of those days you'd have to suck it up and probably congratulate Carrick on a very dogged, resilient and professional performance.

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"They were very dangerous on the break too, they've got some quality players.

"Ultimately, we deserved maybe to scrape a draw with the possession we had."

SHAY McCARTAN EQUALISER...

"I was gone...I basically accepted what was happening into the last blow of the whistle.

"I was probably sitting on the bench cursing and saying how disappointed I was in the performance.

"But we went to the end, to be fair.

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"I always say to the players it's not about losing, it's the manner of it.

"I said to the players at half-time a big saying I have that 'you go out on your shield' and have no regrets.

"They did dig away, there was no lack of endeavour, enthusiasm or work-rate...I just thought we were poor.

"But, on reflection, whenever as poor as that and you get something out of a game it's a good sign."

PASSING...

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"We moved the ball poorly, we moved the ball slowly, we were reactive to situations instead of being proactive and anticipating.

"We had no ball retention really, our striker was losing the ball, our wide players were losing the ball, midfielders, everyone...our backline was pumping it 60 yards into space (but) we were just really, really poor on the ball today.

CARRICK TACTICS...

"They came with a low block and we found it really, really difficult to create space in behind.

"We tried a 3-4-3 the last 20, 25 minutes and trying to play two 10s to draw centre-backs...we ended up with the two guys just playing up front!

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"Whenever you're playing Larne here you're going to accept Larne's going to have 70 per cent of the ball.

"We're okay in that shape, we're pretty good at keeping a nice compact shape...same way as Carrick did here today.

"Carrick came here today and, obviously, were happy for us to have the ball and possession.

"Ballymena came here with a low block and beat us, we'd 75 per cent of the ball that day and didn't look like scoring either.

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"The same thing I think happened today and we've got to work that out.

"Teams are showing us a lot more respect than I thought they would, to be honest.

"In my day, teams would've just come toe-to-toe but they're actually stepping back and being comfortable with us having that possession of the ball.

"No point in having 75 per cent possession and stats like that if not doing anything with it.

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"We've got to work out when teams want to play a low block, we have to work out how to get the keys to the door and do things differently.

"But most teams we play in this league don't play low blocks (and) if we're going to Larne and teams like that we probably do what Carrick done today.

"Carrick sat in, they were fantastically compact, resilient, very, very good and broke out really well."

CARRICK’S PAUL HEATLEY...

"Paul Heatley (37 years old) still looks like he's 28...he's frightening.

"Whether he still should have been on the football pitch is another question (after contact with Lewis MacKinnon).

"My thoughts are it's an absolute red card."

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