Portadown are back in Danske Bank Premiership action tomorrow evening (Tues 2 Nov) when we take on Cliftonville at Solitude, kick off 7:45pm.
Cliftonville are coming off the back of a 2-1 win over Glenavon on Saturday at Solitude, a victory that kept Paddy McLaughlin’s side top of the table by one point ahead of champions Linfield, while the Ports were beaten 2-0 by Coleraine at the Showgrounds.
The last time the two clubs met was back in April 2021 at Shamrock Park with Cliftonville running out 2-1 winners thanks to a first half brace from Ryan Curran, Ben Tilney had pulled a goal back for Portadown just before half time but the Ports were unable to find a equaliser in the second half. In the three meetings between the sides last season Cliftonville had two victories, a 5-0 win in November at Solitude against a Ports side recovering from the effects of a Covid outbreak in the squad and the afore mentioned 2-1 success in April, the other fixture was a 1-1 draw at Shamrock Park with a 90th minute Adam McCallum goal rescuing a point for Matthew Tipton’s men after Ronan Hale had given Cliftonville the lead at a snowy Shamrock Park – Adam McCallum’s goal was Portadown’s first goal in their fourteenth attempt against Cliftonville (the last Ports goal against Cliftonville coming courtesy of Gary Twigg in January 2014) and brought a halt to Cliftonville’s 13 game winning streak over the Shamrock Park men.
Portadown have a pretty sorry recent record at Solitude losing the last eight with the last win over Cliftonville coming back in January 2014 thanks to a Gary Twigg goal – that win in January 2014 at Solitude being the last time Ports secured a win over Cliftonville.
Portadown manager Matthew Tipton spoke to the Portadown media team ahead of tomorrows game and had the following to say:
Tomorrow’s rearranged game is our 3rd in a row away from home which is tough at any time but this one is strange as we should be at home but due to hosting an international we have been forced to move it to Solitude even though we offered to play on a different date. These things are sent to challenge us & what we have to do now is use everything we can to inspire us into a performance that will help us gain points.
We will have to evaluate our injury situation tonight & up to the latest possible moment tomorrow with Adam Salley, Barney McKeown, Chris Lavery & Lee Bonis all battling through the pain currently. One positive is that we finally have Eoin Teggart’s clearance through & he’s available for tomorrow night.
Sam Glenfield & Reece Jordan will play the final game of their u17 qualifiers tomorrow afternoon & from what I’ve seen both lads have done well in the 2 games v Scotland & Italy so I wish them all the best v Albania tomorrow.
The officials are – Referee –/ Assistant 1 –/ Assistant 2 –/ 4th official –
Admission to the game is pay at the gate with no tickets required
Supporters Club Buses travelling:
- Eden Reds – Departing Gary’s Bar at 6:30pm
- Shamrock Reds – Departing Shamrock Park at 6:30pm with non members welcome
Form (LAST FIVE PREMIERSHIP GAMES – MOST RECENT GAME LAST)
- Cliftonville – W, D, W, L, W (1st in DBP)
- Portadown – L, W, L, D, L (11th in DBP)
Last Five Head to Head (All competitions)
- Saturday 17 April 2021 – Portadown 1 (Tilney) Cliftonville 2 (Curran x2)
- Saturday 13 February 2021 – Portadown 1 (McCallum) Cliftonville 1 (Hale)
- Saturday 28 November 2020 – Cliftonville 5 (McCrudden x3, O’Connor x2) Portadown 0
- Saturday 28 January 2017 – Cliftonville 3 (Winchester, J.Donnelly, Curran) Portadown 0
- Saturday 10 December 2016 – Cliftonville 1 (Breen OG) Portadown 0
Last Five Head to Head at Solitude (All competitions)
- Saturday 28th November 2020 – Cliftonville 5 (McCrudden x3, O’Connor x2) Portadown 0
- Saturday 28 January 2017 – Cliftonville 3 (Winchester, J.Donnelly, Curran) Portadown 0
- Saturday 10 December 2016 – Cliftonville 1 (Breen OG) Portadown 0
- Saturday 30 January 2016 – Cliftonville 1 (J.Donnelly) Portadown 0
- Saturday 17 October 2015 – Cliftonville 3 (Garrett x2, J.Donnelly) Portadown 0