Bright Ports have nothing to Larne

Portadown goal scorers Ukuk and Obhakhan enjoyed the victory against the champions

Portadown moved back into the top six in the Sports Direct Premiership with a convincing 2-0 win against Champions Larne at Shamrock Park on Saturday evening. Such was the Ports dominance of the game, Larne failed to register a shot on target, as Aaron McCarey recorded his tenth clean sheet of the season. Portadown have now taken seven points from nine against Larne this season

The Ports, back at home after three weeks on the road opened the game brightly and almost took the lead in the second minute when they broke from defence and a long ball found Teelan. As the little winger toyed with the Larne defence, he found space, but his shot was blocked and as it broke to McCartan the Larne defence blocked his goal bound effort. Two minutes later with Larne appealing for a throw-in, Obhakhan broke down the line before supplying Teelan but again his effort was blocked and as it dropped to Wylie, he skied it high over then bar.It was a bright start for the home side, and they continued to press through Obhakhan when he sent McCullough down the left wing, where his cross evaded Ferguson but Ukek blasted high and wide.On fifteen minutes a surging run by McCartan ended with the Ports midfielder being up ended 25 yards from goal by Dylan Sloan. Referee Boyce produced a yellow card for Sloan and McCartan stepped up to hit the free kick which was only parred by Ferguson. Josh Ukek kept his composure and cooly slotted home past the stranded keeper for the opening goal.Portadown doubled their lead when Larne, struggling to deal with McCartan were unable to prevent him releasing Teelan. Teelan showed tremendous pace to keep the ball in play before lofting the ball across the box, and Josh Ukek headed to the back post where Obhakhan under pressure from two markers, slotted home the second goal from a tight angle.Shaun Want was the second Larne player to see yellow when he scythed down Ben Wylie on twenty-six minutes. On thirty-five minutes that man Teelan was again causing panic in the visitor’s defence and his floated effort sailed just over.Portadown totally dominated the champions in the first half, with the visitor’s failing to register a shot on goal. The pace of Teelan and McCartan and the coolness of Obhakhan and Tabu Minzamba were causing all sorts of problems for Larne.The second period opened in the same fashion as the first with Portadown on the front foot and Larne resorting to long balls. Gary Haveron made a double substitution ten minutes after the break with Ajala and Bayode replacing Panayiotou and McKendry. Three minutes later it was almost a third for the Ports but no-one in a red shirt could get on the end of a cross into the box and from the resultant corner, McCullough’s set piece flashed across the face of goal, but once more no-one could get that vital touch on the ball.From a Larne corner on seventy-five minutes Portadown broke clear, Fyfe won the ball from Gallagher and released Wylie on a two versus one but as he tried to play in Obhakhan the ball was blocked. Larne had a half chance on seventy-eight minutes following a miscommunication between Altintop and McCarey and the Ports keeper scrambled across goal and was relieved to see the ball trundle past the post.A clever lob over the Larne defence from Tabu on eighty-six-minutes saw Mayse beat the offside trap, but his shot went wildly past the post.

Victory saw Portadown leapfrog Larne and Cliftonville into fifth place on 42 points, the best topflight points haul record by The Ports in over a decade.A beaming Portadown manager could not hide his pride in the performance of his side, as Nial Currie enthused, “It’s a great day to have the champions here and coming out of it on the right side of a result. To a man today we looked a really decent side.” Larne failed to register a shot on target through the entire game, as man for man Portadown outplayed the Co. Antrim men. Right from the kick the home side took the game to the visitors, something which delight the Ports boss, “The first 10 or 15 minutes of a game is huge, and we started like a house on fire. Our press was fantastic, our movement was to drawer, out intensity was superb and we got our goals, but I really, really appreciated how we managed the rest of the game”Portadown: McCarey, Chapman, Altintop, MacKinnon, McCullough, Ukek(Fyfe), Wylie, McCartan, Obhakhan(McElroy), Minzamba, Teelan(Mayse) Unused subs; Williamson, D Wilson, McElroy, Traynor, Isamala.Larne: Ferguson, Want, Donnelly, McKendry(Bayode), S Graham, McEneff, Nolan, Panayiotou(Ajala), Cosgrove, Sloan(Simpson), Gallagher Unused subs: D Graham, Brown, Devlin, Wallace