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To quote a well know football anthem, “All the lads and lasses, smiles upon their faces, Walking down the Brownstown Road.”

When Niall Currie returned to Portadown FC in October 2022 he said he wanted to put the smiles back on the faces of the fans, and there were smiling faces aplenty at Shamrock Park on Saturday evening at the conclusion of another season. It most certainly is mission accomplished on that front as he guided his team to an eighth-place finish in their first season back in the topflight.

The home side opened the scoring in the 15th minute when McCartan fired them ahead from the penalty spot after Eamon Fyfe was upended by Shane Flynn. The lead was almost doubled two minutes later when Teelan jinked and turned into the box and played a one-two with Fyfe, but the Ballymena defence managed to clear the danger.

From a Ballymena corner kick, Portadown broke out of defence and a perfectly timed pass from McCartan picked out the run of Steven McCullough. The ports full -back carried it forward and cut in from the left squaring across the face of goal to find Teelan unmarked at the back post, but he shot wide of the target.

The Portadown players took time after the game to sign autographs and get selfies with the sea of smiling faces

The visitors first real effort on goal came on twenty-seven minutes through a speculative shot by Corbally from 25 yards which went wide of McCarey’s right hand upright.

The game was all square ten minutes before the break when 15-year-old Luke Hawe’s low drive from 22 yards sailed through a crowd of players and past the unsighted Portadown goalkeeper.

Portadown restored their lead in the third minute of added time through a stunning Steven McCullough free kick which gave O’Neill no chance. The free kick had been awarded when McCallion handled the ball directly in centre of the goal when trying to clear a long ball from Portadown.

The second half saw little in the way of any clear-cut chances for either side. Nine minutes from time Portadown made a double substitution bringing on Ross Redman and Dougie Wilson for what is likely to be their swan songs with the Ports.

To mark their centenary in the Irish League, Portadown took to the field in a retro 1980’s kit, a throwback to the Day George Best played at Shamrock Park. Stuart McKinley was mascot that day and he recreated that role for the team photo.

Three minutes from time an Ethan Devine point blank shot at the back post was well saved by McCarey, to secure the points for the home side.

Cliftonville’s victory at Loughgall secured the final European play-off spot for the North Belfast side, but for Ports boss Niall Currie it was as season to look back on with pride: “I think this season has been a huge success.” said Currie.

The Ports gaffer, his management team and the players spent time after the final whistle signing autographs and getting selfies with a host of fans, young and old. Niall explained just why it was so important to him to take that time with the supporters, “We did what we did after the match because we have such a depth of young people, young girls and boys coming to our games. It’s amazing.”

Every one of them left with smiles upon their faces.

Shay McCartan put Portadown ahead from the penalty spot.

Portadown: McCarey, Chapman, McCullough(Redman), Isamala, Traynor, Ukek, McCartan (Wylie), Minzamba, Fyfe(D Wislon), McElroy(Mayse), Teelan(Obhakhan). Unused subs: Williamson, McCawl

Ballymena United: O'Neill, Lafferty, Jarvis(Loughran), McCurry(Devine), Edogun, McCallion, (Moore), Corbally, Flynn(Munnis), Barr, Hood(Phinn). Unused Subs: Johnston, Idehen

Portadown's Niall putting smiles on faces