Portadown leave it late - again - as Niall Currie hails impact of substitutes in injury-time derby delight
Portadown grabbed a last-gasp winner off Ben Wylie to turn the tables at Shamrock Park and see off in-form Dungannon Swifts.
Friday night’s dramatic derby featured visiting Swifts on target before the break thanks to Danny Wallace’s finish from a Leo Alves corner-kick.
However, Ahu Obhakhan’s close-range goal to convert Steven McCullough’s low cross after the interval left the sides level
And – having lost to Glentoran in added time and secured a draw against Linfield in the last seconds – Portadown produced another home thriller thanks to Wylie’s header to convert a Ryan Mayse corner-kick and secure victory for Niall Currie’s newly-promoted side.
Portadown boss Currie singled out substitutes Mayse and Wylie for enjoying such a strong impact.
"Scoring a last-minute winner is always brilliant and we were on the end of one of those a few weeks ago against Glentoran so that's how football goes," Currie told BBC Sport NI. "Momentum is so important so that will give us all a lift.”
He added: "Dungannon were good in the first half, but we were disappointed with how we played. I thought we were quite wasteful in possession for large parts and were chasing shadows."
The Ports boss also highlighted the value of the equaliser.
"The equaliser from Ahu changed the momentum of the game after the break. We initially went for a bit of steel in the middle, but we had good options from the bench and utilised them well."