Manager ready to ‘go to war’ to survive

The Whites were two points adrift of second placed Donegal Celtic before the two sides met on Tuesday afternoon in the basement of the table after this battling performance against Portadown at New Grosvenor.

Scott Davidson shot the Ballyskeagh boys into a first half lead, but ace predator Gary Twigg – on the way back from injury – levelled with practically his first touch after replacing Mark Patton.

“We were prepared to go to war out there, we are fighting for the survival of this club – and that’s the way it will be for the next five games,” roared McCann, speaking before the Donegal Celtic game.

“If we get that same level of commitment and spirit then I see us staying up.

“It was a fantastic result - a fantastic performance; the effort and commitment from the players was second to none.

“We had two chances last on, as good as you will see in any game, but we just couldn’t convert them; However, I can’t fault them. We are going to fight for every single point and, if we get that type of performance, we will not have any problems.”

The result also meant that Portadown will play out the remainder of the campaign in the bottom six. Their hopes of qualifying for Europe now hinge on next week’s Irish Cup semi final clash with Glentoran.

“We came here to win the game, but I thought we didn’t start with any great tempo,” moaned manager Ronnie McFall. “Darren Murray could have put us in front after a couple of minutes. We missed a lot of chances and hit the bar a couple of times.

“In saying that, Distillery had a few chances as well. I’m disappointed with the performance and the result. It was one of those days where they (chances) weren’t going to go in . . . . sometimes you get days like that.

“That’s us in the bottom six now, it’s not where we wanted to be, but we just have to pick ourselves up and get on with it and focus on next Saturday’s game

“We have had a problems all season. We have played half-decent football, created chances but we haven’t really taken them.

“Murray has been the only one scoring on a regular basis and he had an off day today. Twigg has been out injured, so it was a bonus to get him back.”