True grit Blues set up semi with the Swifts
JORDAN Stewart was placed on the transfer list earlier in the season by Linfield. Against Portadown at Shamrock Park last night, he netted an injury time winner to send the Blues into the semi-final of the BetMcLean League Cup.
How football can change. Stewart blasted home the decisive strike in the dying seconds of a compelling clash in which the Ports gave Linfield a real run for their money.
When Michael O’Connor scored early on, it looked like a stroll in the park for David Healy’s side, but the hosts showed great character to fight back in the second half and deserved to equalise through the dangerous Ryan Carmichael.
Then came Stewart’s sucker punch at the death.
Ahead of a crunch league encounter at home to champions Crusaders on Saturday, Linfield were viewing their trip to mid-Ulster as an opportunity to bounce back from a disappointing defeat at Ballymena United.
That 2-1 loss led to David Jeffrey’s men leapfrogging Linfield to the top of the Danske Bank Premiership table.
Healy made four changes to his starting XI with Mark Stafford, Matthew Clarke, Stewart and O’Connor coming in for Robert Garrett, Joel Cooper, Andrew Waterworth and the suspended Josh Robinson.
As for the Ports, they entered last night’s Cup clash seeing it as a break from what has been a poor Championship campaign to date.
Big spending Larne were always going to be favourites in that division but Matthew Tipton’s team were expected to be a lot closer to the Inver Park outfit.
Having lost 2-0 to Carrick Rangers at the weekend, Portadown dropped to fourth and are now a massive 19 points behind runaway leaders Larne.
Welcoming Linfield, the Ports had won just two of their previous eight games and were without the suspended Kevin Braniff.
Pre-match, Tipton spoke about PORTADOWN: Dunne, Carson, McCallum, Lavery, Salley, Hall, Thompson, Wilson, Carmichael, Mackle, Storey. Unused subs: Blair, Neill, Kilmartin, Anderson, Douglas, Robinson, Tipton.
LINFIELD: Carroll, Stafford, Callacher, O’Connor, Stewart (Mitchell, 90 mins),
how difficult it would be for his side and, seven minutes in, those comments looked spot on with Linfield taking the lead with their first meaningful attack.
Kirk Millar played a clever ball into Stewart, who had found space in the box far too easily, and when his shot was saved by Ports goalkeeper Declan Dunne, striker O’Connor was on the spot to turn home the rebound.
Linfield had chances to extend the lead courtesy of the impres- Millar (Forde, 66 mins), Clarke, Fallon, Mulgrew, Quinn, Casement. Unused subs: Deane, Moller Nielsen, Doyle, Garrett, Reynolds.
Referee: Lee Tavinder (Dungannon)
Man of the match: Ryan Carmichael Match rating: 7/10
sive Niall Quinn and Chris Casement but failed to take them.
The Blues may have been in control but that didn’t stop a small band of enthusiastic Ports fans from making plenty of noise with their voices, a drum, a bugle and what sounded like cowbells straight out of the Winter Olympics!
At the other end, the Ports had their best moment on 43 minutes with Carmichael producing an excellent right wing raid prior to