It’s a dog’s life being a big fish for Portadown
SITTING at Breda Park, the picturesque and fantastic home of Knockbreda Football Club, there was something in the air and it had nothing to do with the cows in the adjacent fields.
There was a whiff of extreme nervousness from the Portadown fans who had filled the Phillip Russell Stand in the latest edition of reality bites for the once feared Shamrock aces.
This is life for now, trips to the likes of Knockbreda, Dergview and Limavady for a team that not so long ago were regular challengers for the Gibson Cup, perennial Irish Cup battlers and it was only five years ago they were playing in the Europa League.
Fast forward and Niall Currie’s men were scoreless at the break against a Knockbreda outfit that didn’t give them a minute to settle. Yes, we respect you, but disrespect us and we’ll batter you was very much the message and the biggest cheers from the visiting fans were for Labrador Beau, the four-legged fetcher of errant balls, who sat patiently waiting for his big moment.
It was my first visit to this lofty football outpost in the leafy environs of Belfast suburbia, and I dare say it was the same story for many of the Ports fans who made up 95 per cent of the gate.
It has been the same story all season, much-needed money for hosts but, and no disrespect to any of them, Portadown can’t wait, or for that matter afford, to see the back of them as soon as possible.
Among the disciples still following from Mid-Ulster were Robert Donaldson, who turns 79 next week, and Kenny Hill, both fans for longer than they care to remember, and sharing in that nervy half-time state of affairs.
Plenty of experience on the sidelines, but it is to the younger generation that Currie (above) must turn to, according to Kenny.
“Some of the seasoned pros he has signed just haven’t been up to the mark, the young lads he has been playing were going well towards the end of last season but whenever the new season started he put on a lot of the old hands and the kids are only getting in now whenever everything has hit the fan,” he said.
But both men have faith that Currie can turn things around. “If you get three or four results together we’ll shoot up that league. It takes two or three wins behind you to get that confidence but we don’t have that yet,” added Robert.
“What we have as well is that because you are the biggest fish, everywhere you go they’re looking to beat you,” said Kenny and minnows Knockbreda were desperately hoping to find the net in the second period.
They did, but it was sandwiched between two for Portadown in a crazy seven-minute spell that saw 15-yearold Alberto Balde become the Ports’ youngest-ever scorer, a Lewis Irwin wonder goal for the hosts, a highly contentious penalty converted by skipper Niall Henderson and a red card for Nathan McVeigh’s over-robust challenge on another young gun, Luke Wilson.
It just about sums up life in the Bluefin Sport Championship (that’s the B Division in old money), and it wouldn’t be Portadown if they didn’t make hard work of it, with Ricky Rutherford going desperately close to grabbing an equaliser right at the death.
Then there were two big puffs of air, the referee blowing his whistle and all in red exhaling a huge sigh of relief that maybe, just maybe, this was the start of better times and for Beau (below) a well-deserved bowl of water.
Manager Currie shared in that relief after the game and while he won’t have the services of Middlesbrough-bound NI youth international Balde for much longer, he is more than happy to give his fledglings the chance to try and lift the Ports back to a loftier perch.
“The penny has maybe finally dropped that you have to dig in in this league and you need to fight and you need to have a fighting spirit about you and we showed that today,” he said.
“It’s been hard, we’re just trying to get a foundation of spirit into the team at the minute and that’s why I’ve thrown the kids in. No disrespect to the senior players, but we needed a wee lift, I think everybody needed a lift with the run we’ve been on and I think the kids have done that.”
So there is still life in this big fish in a small, but beautifully formed, pond, where the welcome mat is always waiting — but how they just love to whip it away.
“It hasn’t surprised me, I think it has surprised some of the players. We have a lot of our squad who played in the Premiership for a long, long time and I don’t think they’re too used to that,” added Currie after coming through another cup final.
“You can see that when Premiership teams play in the Irish Cup and come down to Knockbreda or PSNI, they’re always tight games because it’s an up and at them league.
“That’s probably the biggest difficulty that you have, every game you play every other team is wound up like a clock.
“It (promotion) has to be the target at a club like this and I am well aware of that, the target remains the same.”
Next up is a home game against the Welders. The Reds need a win to keep up the momentum they have been building, but they know it won’t be easy. Nothing is at this level, apart from Beau — he’ll never let you down.