Portadown are back in Danske Bank Premiership action this evening (Tues 5 April) when we take on Cliftonville at Shamrock Park, kick off 7:45pm.
Cliftonville are coming off the back of an Irish Cup semi final defeat to Crusaders on Friday evening at Windsor Park however have won their last nine Premiership games and haven’t tasted defeat in the league since 17th January. Portadown return to action after a 17 day break following a 2-0 win over Coleraine at Shamrock Park on 19th March thanks to goals from Adam Salley & Harry Anderson – this was the Ports second successive victory in the league and their third win in four games which leaves them now just a point behind Carrick Rangers in 10th place with a game in hand.
The last time the two clubs met was at Shamrock Park back in December with the game finishing 1-1, Portadown had taken the lead through Stephen Teggart before Paul O’Neill equalised for the reds in the 79th minute.
Portadown have a pretty sorry recent record at Shamrock Park against Cliftonville losing eight of the last eleven and without a win in the last fifteen 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 eighteen games with the last victory against Cliftonville coming in January 2014 at Solitude thanks to a Gary Twigg goal.
Cliftonville have had an excellent season so far, picking up the League Cup and are having an exceptional Premiership campaign, currently lying in second place 4 points behind Linfield with a game in hand.
The officials are – Referee – Ross Dunlop / Assistant 1 – Ryan Kelsey / Assistant 2 – Bogdan Sfirloaga / 4th official – Lee Tavinder
Here’s what manager Paul Doolin had to say
Another big game, a home game, and we’ve haven’t had game for a few weeks so it’s give us a chance to get players that were struggling after the Coleraine game a bit of time to regroup and it’s brilliant that they’ve recovered, because if we’d had a game straight after the victory over Coleraine we’d have been without a few.
It’ll be a tough game against Cliftonville who I see as the best of the rest in terms of full time clubs, they’ve just won the League Cup and were unlucky in the semi final of the Irish Cup and are of course challenging for the league. They’ve good players, but then so do we – we’ve players starting to emerge now who’ve a bit of confidence so we’ll be doing all we can to get more points on the board.
MATCH SPONSOR – PFC Business Club
MATCH BALL SPONSOR – Aaron Potts
PSS MAN OF THE MATCH SPONSOR – Raymond Gilmore
BUCKET COLLECTION – Portadown FC Ladies
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.
While online tickets for matches still remain, a cash gate is now also available at each game at Shamrock Park for HOME SUPPORTERS ONLY (except in the event where a game has sold out online in advance of the game). We would add however that purchasing your ticket online remains the best way to guarantee your seat for games and would still actively encourage supporters to avail of the facility.
For those unable to make it to Shamrock Park this evening the game will be live streamed on We Are Ports TV LIVE with former Ports defender Philip Major on co-commentary, the cost to purchase the game is £10 via https://performatv.com/game/portadown-vs-cliftonville-05-04-22
Form (LAST FIVE PREMIERSHIP GAMES – MOST RECENT GAME LAST)
- Portadown – L,W,D,W,W (11th in DBP)
- Cliftonville – W,W,W,W,W (2nd in DBP)
Last Five Head to Head (All competitions)
- Saturday 11 December 2021 – Portadown 1 (S.Teggart) Cliftonville 1 (O’Neill)
- 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)
Last Five Head to Head at Shamrock Park (All competitions)
- Saturday 11 December 2021 – Portadown 1 (S.Teggart) Cliftonville 1 (O’Neill)
- 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)
A reminder about the Ports Hub facility at games at Shamrock Park which give you match info, player stats, exclusive interviews as well as our brand new feature – live audio commentary. At the click of a button you will be able to plug in your earphones and listen to the live audio commentary while watching the match!
To access the Ports Hub simply scan the QR code placed on every other seat’s backrest at Shamrock Park (as well as in the clubrooms) and you will give brought to a host of great content, think of it as your digital matchday programme!
The latest episode of the Preview Show is now available where Neil Campbell and Jonny Dunlop preview this evenings game against Cliftonville as well as look back at the win over Coleraine and discuss live Premiership game on TV and the Glentoran eligibility issue