Portadown are back in Danske Bank Premiership action tomorrow (Sat 11 Dec) when we take on Cliftonville at Shamrock Park, kick off 3pm.

Cliftonville are coming off the back of a penalty shoot out defeat to Linfield in midweek in the County Antrim Shield while in league matters they were 1-0 winners over Ballymena United last Saturday at Solitude. Portadown come into the game following a 3-1 defeat to Glentoran at the Oval.

The last time the two clubs met was a month ago at Shamrock Park in the quarter final of the League Cup with Cliftonville running out 2-1 winners after extra time, Lee Bonis had given Portadown the lead before goals by Ronan Doherty and Daniel Kearns saw Paddy McLaughlin’s side progress. In Premiership matters Cliftonville ran out comfortable 4-0 winners at Solitude thanks to a Joe Gormley brace, a Paul Finnegan OG and a Ryan Curran penalty back on 2 November while the last time the teams met in the Premiership at Shamrock Park Cliftonville were 2-1 victors with two goals from Ryan Curran and Ben Tilney replying for the Ports back in April.

Portadown have a pretty sorry recent record at Shamrock Park against Cliftonville losing eight of the last ten and without a win in the last fourteen on home soil. The last win over Cliftonville at Shamrock Park came back in February 2011 with goals from Alan Cawley and Kevin Braniff. In fact Portadown are without a win against Paddy McLaughlin’s men home and away in the last seventeen games with the last victory against Cliftonville coming in January 2014 at Solitude.

This is what Portadown manager Matthew Tipton had to say on tomorrow afternoons game

We are back at home tomorrow after 2 tough away games & we come up against top of the table Cliftonville. Whilst we have had no wins at home this season our performances have been good & we are a few games unbeaten. Our obvious aim is to turn performances into results & there’s no better way to do it than against the team at the top of the table.

We will definitely be without Adam McCallum & Nathan Kerr tomorrow who both pulled up last week. Both lads were playing through the pain barrier before the game started but it was one game too far for them.

We are feeling the effects of our smaller squad but that was the decision I had made in the summer & with our previous excellent record of no muscle injuries it was based on facts rather than blind hope however this season we have been hit with long term injuries which have impacted our ability to rotate the squad in the positions that are needed.

Hopefully we can provide some much needed pre Christmas cheer tomorrow for everyone attending.

 

 

The officials are – Referee – Steven Gregg / Assistant 1 – Ryan Kelsey / Assistant 2 – Bogdan Sfirloaga / 4th official – Raymond Crangle

 

MATCH SPONSOR – Portadown Carpets

PSS MAN OF THE MATCH SPONSOR – Portadown Driving School

 

Saturdays game against Cliftonville will be our annual Santa Hat Saturday event kindly sponsored and supported by WE ARE PORTS – there will be

  • Live carols & Christmas Collection with the Portadown Salvation Army Band
  • Free Santa Hats for Children
  • Free Chocolate Christmas Treats
  • Santa Claus in attendance
  • Free Entry for Primary School Children with a paying adult

 

Online tickets for the game are available via https://tickets.portadownfc.co.uk/fixtures/ / A cash turnstile will be available for HOME SUPPORTERS ONLY, any Cliftonville supporters trying to or found to gain access to the home stand will face ejection from the stadium.

 

For those unable to make it to Shamrock Park tomorrow the game will be live streamed on We Are Ports TV LIVE with former Ports defender Alfie Stewart on co-commentary, the cost to purchase the game is £10 via https://www.performatv.com/game/portadown-vs-cliftonville-11-12-21

 

Form (LAST FIVE PREMIERSHIP GAMES – MOST RECENT GAME LAST)

  • Portadown –  D, L, D, L, L (11th in DBP)
  • Cliftonville – W, L, D, D, W (1ST in DBP)

 

Last Five Head to Head (All competitions)

  • Tuesday 9 November 2021 – Portadown 1 (Bonis) Cliftonville 2 (Doherty, Kearns)
  • Tuesday 2 November 2021 – Cliftonville 4 (Gormley x2, Finnegan OG, R.Curran (P)) Portadown 0
  • 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

 

Last Five Head to Head at Shamrock Park (All competitions)

  • Tuesday 9 November 2021 – Portadown 1 (Bonis) Cliftonville 2 (Doherty, Kearns)
  • Saturday 17 April 2021 – Portadown 1 (Tilney) Cliftonville 2 (R.Curran x2)
  • Saturday 13 February 2021 – Portadown 1 (McCallum) Cliftonville 1 (Hale)
  • Saturday 24 September 2016 – Portadown 0 Cliftonville 3 (McGuinness, McDaid, Garrett)
  • Saturday 15 August 2015 – Portadown 0 Cliftonville 1 (J.Donnelly)

 

A reminder that to gain entry to the clubrooms on Saturday that it will be necessary to show either:

  • A current valid covid certificate on the COVIDCertNI app
  • A printed copy of your certificate along with photo ID
  • The record card you received at your first vaccination appointment, confirming two vaccinations
  • Evidence of a current valid negative NHS Covid Test on your smartphone.

All other supporters attending home matches will NOT be required to show evidence of vaccination or a negative Covid test.

We strongly recommend that face covering be used at all in stairwells and when entering the board room or clubrooms.