Portadown are back in Bluefin Sport Championship action this Friday night (4 October 19) when we face Newry City AFC at Shamrock Park (7:45pm).
Portadown will be without the suspended Chris Crane who picked up a straight red card in Saturdays victory over the PSNI with the versatile Liam McKenna expected to come in to deputise at left back while Chris Lavery remains sidelined with a grade 1 medial ligament tear which has seen him miss the last three Championship games, the Ports will however have the NIFWA Championship Player of the Month in their squad for Friday nights game after Lee Bonis picked up the award for September on Thursday morning.
Newry City AFC have found it difficult to adjust to life back in the Bluefin Sport Championship following their relegation from the Premiership with only four wins in their opening ten Championship matches with three of those four Championship wins coming away from home, they’ve also won their last two Championship games, against Queens University and Ballyclare Comrades, so the Ports will have to be at their best as resurgent Newry City AFC try to put a run together to climb the table and mount a promotion push.
While Ports striker Bonis can boast 6 goals in his last seven Championship games Newry midfielder John McGovern has hit four goals in his last five Championship games while striker Mark McCabe is Newry’s top marksman so far this campaign with five Championship goals so the Ports defence will have to be on top form to combat the goal scoring threat from those Newry City AFC danger men.
There could be a few familiar faces to Ports supporters in the Newry City AFC squad for tomorrow nights game with both Adam Foley and Stefan Lavery having spells at the Ports over the last few years while the Ports have former Newry City AFC midfielder Stephen Teggart in their ranks. The Newry City AFC dugout tomorrow night can also boast two Portadown FC title winners in Raymond Byrne and Portadown Hall of Famer Mickey Keenan.
Players appearing for both Portadown and Newry City AFC has been a recurring theme down through the years with multiple players donning both the red shirt as well as the blue and white including Mickey Keenan, Raymond Byrne, Robert Casey, Marty Magee, Joey Cunningham, Gary Peebles, Trevor Smith, Darren Murray, John Convery, Cullen Feeney and Adrian Larkin.
The last meeting between the two sides came in the Bet McLean League Cup last season at the Showgrounds when the Ports progressed on penalties after a 1-1 draw after extra time while the last meeting between the two at Shamrock Park was a feisty affair with both teams reduced to 10 men at half time while Ports manager Tipton was also dismissed from the dugout as the Ports ran out 2-1 winners.
The officials are – Referee – Peter McGrath / Assistant 1 – George Argyropoulos / Assistant 2 – John Doherty
2019/20 Bluefin Sport Championship season so far
Portadown – Played 10, Won 8, Drew 1, Lost 1. Goals for 24 / Goals against 5 – Bluefin Sport Championship position – 1st
Newry City AFC – Played 10, Won 4, Drew 2, Lost 4. Goals for 20 / Goals against 15 – Bluefin Sport Championship position – 6th
Portadown Home League Form 2019/20 / Played 5, Won 4, Lost 1. Goals for 12 / against 2
Newry City AFC Away League Form 2019/20 / Played 5, Won 3, Drew 1, Lost 1. Goals for 8 / Goals against 4
Last Five Head to Head
Tuesday 30 October 2018 – Newry City AFC 1(King) Portadown 1 (McCallum) – Ports won 4-1 on pens * League Cup
Friday 20 April 2018 – Newry City AFC 0 Portadown 0
Friday 23 March 2018 – Portadown 2 (Boyle og, Douglas) Newry City AFC 1 (Mackin)
Friday 27 October 2017 – Portadown 1 (Lavery) Newry City AFC 4 (D Carville, J Walker, M McCabe, o.g.)
Friday 8 September 2017 – Newry City AFC 1 (Boyle) Portadown 4 (Lavery x2, Duffin, Amuneke)
Odds on the game against Newry City AFC via Toals Bookmakers with markets including first goalscorer, correct score, amount of goals and many more are available via the link below:
https://portadownfc.co.uk/2019/10/02/toals-bookmakers-launch-exclusive-markets-for-portadown-fans/
MATCH SPONSOR – MCBURNEY TRANSPORT GROUP
MATCH BALL SPONSOR – ARNOLD COURTNEY
PSS MAN OF THE MATCH SPONSOR – JONNY WYLIE
#WeArePortsTV Highlights of our previous meeting against Newry City AFC at Shamrock Park are below