Portadown are in BetMcLean Cup action this evening when we face Crusaders at Shamrock Park, kick off 7:45pm.
Portadown come into the game off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Institute at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium while Crusaders were beaten 2-0 by Coleraine at Seaview.
Crusaders currently sit in 4th place in the Sports Direct Premiership having played 15 games, winning 8, drawing 4 and losing 3 and progressed to this stage of the BetMcLean Cup with a 5-0 win over Warrenpoint Town at Milltown. Ports were 4-1 winners over Coagh United at Shamrock Park in the last round to set up this evenings meeting with Crusaders.
The last time the two clubs met was back in March at Shamrock Park in a Premiership fixture with the game ending 2-2, Portadown had taken the lead through Paul McElroy before goals from Ross Clarke and Philip Lowry had put Stephen Baxter’s men into the lead before being pegged back via a last minute Alan O’Sullivan equaliser.
Tonights meeting of the two teams will be the the 11th in the League Cup with both sides recording 5 wins apiece. The Ports beat Crusaders 2-1 to lift the trophy for the first time at Windsor Park in September 1995 through goals from Garry Haylock and Robert Casey and have went on to win the trophy on one more occasion since then, back in 2008/09. Another interesting fact is that the first meeting between the clubs in the League Cup was the first fixture under floodlights at Shamrock Park in October 1987 while also it’s worth noting that Dundela, under Niall Currie, knocked Crusaders out of the League Cup last season.
On tomorrows game Niall Currie commented
Obviously we go in as massive underdogs but the positive is we have Dougie Wilson getting another session under his belt while of course the negative is obviously the huge loss of Paul McElroy while our skipper Gary Thompson also misses out tonight due to a knee problem, but this all means opportunity knocks for guys coming in.
We welcome Eoin Bradley back into the squad for tonights game and hopefully he can give us a real lift until Paul returns as we go in and give our all.
Officials | Tim Marshall (Referee), Andrew Nethery, Brain Wilson. Mark Dillon (4th official)
MATCH BALL SPONSOR – 1st Newtownabbey WWMC Crusaders Supporters Club in memory of our dear friend Terence Pentland.
PSS MAN OF THE MATCH SPONSOR – Business Wise NI
MASCOT – Ellis Anderson (age 8) whose favourite player is Ryan Mayse
BUCKET COLLECTION – Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal
Last Five Head to Head (All competitions)
- Saturday 18 March 2023 – Portadown 2 (McElroy. O’Sullivan) Crusaders 2 (Clarke, Lowry)
- Saturday 22 October 2023 – Crusaders 4 (Lecky x2, Snelgrove, Winchester) Portadown 0
- Tuesday 23 August 2022 – Crusaders 2 (Lowry, McMurray) Portadown 1 (Jenkins)
- Tuesday 25 January 2022 – Portadown 0 Crusaders 1 (Kennedy)
- Tuesday 30 November 2021 – Crusaders 2 (Heatley, Lowry) Portadown 0
Last Five Head to Head at Shamrock Park (All competitions)
- Saturday 18 March 2023 – Portadown 2 (McElroy. O’Sullivan) Crusaders 2 (Clarke, Lowry)
- Tuesday 25 January 2022 – Portadown 0 Crusaders 1 (Kennedy)
- Tuesday 30 March 2021 – Portadown 1 (Salley) Crusaders 2 (Wilson, Owens)
- Tuesday 26 January 2021 – Portadown 2 (McCallum, Bonis) Crusaders 2 (Caddell, Heatley)
- Saturday 25 February 2017 – Portadown 1 (Soares) Crusaders 1 (Owens)
We Are Ports TV LIVE will have live coverage of the game against Crusaders, the live stream is available at a cost of £7 and can be purchased and viewed via https://portstv.com/register/portadown-vs-crusaders/
Online tickets for the game are available via PFC TICKETS – Portadown Football Club (portadownfc.co.uk). While online tickets for matches still remain, a cash gate is also available (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 is the quickest and most convenient way to secure your seat for games and would still actively encourage supporters to avail of the facility. Portadown FC also operate a ‘Kid for a Quid’ scheme which sees any Primary school child admitted to the game for £1 when accompanied by a paying adult – up to 3 with any one paying adult.
A reminder about the Ports Hub facility at games at Shamrock Park which give you match info, player stats and exclusive interviews. 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!
With more families and community / youth groups visiting Shamrock Park on match days, the club has decided to re-launch our FAMILY AND COMMUNITY AREA. BLOCK B in the home stand has been designated as this area, a traditionally slightly quieter block and further away from opposition supporters. We recognise that football matches are noisy and passionate experiences for players and fans alike but we would also like children, families and community visitors of mixed abilities and needs to feel comfortable when they visit a match, for some, their very first football match.
Guidelines for supporters sitting in Block B will be clearly displayed at the front of that area and we encourage all patrons in the block to follow them:
- PLEASE BE AWARE OF THOSE AROUND YOU.
- PLEASE USE APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE.
- BE POSITIVE TOWARDS PEOPLE ON THE PITCH.