SHOCK & AWE-FUL LEADERS SCOTT TO GET BETTER Skipper wants Welders to up game after Ports win

H&W WELDERS midfielder Scott Davidson has challenged his team-mates to use Saturday’s victory over Portadown as a marker for the rest of the campaign.

The 28-year-old headed the equaliser for the East Belfast outfit on Saturday against the Ports, before Matthew Ferguson (circled above) grabbed the winner.

It ended a seven-game winless run for the Welders in the division, and took the Ports off top spot, while the Welders now travel to Ards tonight in the County Antrim Shield quarterfinals.

“Saturday must be the standard for us for the rest of the season,” Davidson told Match On Tuesday.

“We have shown this season we can beat the top teams in the league, we have beaten Newry too, we beat two top-flight teams in the cups – Warrenpoint and Carrick.

“The aim must be to replicate that level of performance week in week out, and not let our performance drop as we have done quite often this season.

“We know we have the quality in our ranks to win matches and beat the best teams in the league, because we are a team who shouldn’t be down near the bottom but be challenging in the top half.

“Winning breeds confidence and the message before the game on Saturday was that we need to work harder than our opponents and we will be in with a great chance, and that’s what happened.

“We have the quality in this team to score goals and punish our opponents, Saturday’s result will hopefully now allow us to kick on.

“Now we have the County Antrim Shield game coming up against Ards and because it’s a cup game, it’s a little less pressure and maybe a bit of a free hit.

“There’s no reason why we cannot beat Ards and while the cup competitions are never your priority at the start of the season, to be one game from the semifinals is a big opportunity.”

The Welders lost a number of defensive stalwarts this year – Gary Spence joined Knockbreda while

Scott Mcmillan, Craig

Harris and William

Armstrong all moved to Ards. “There has been a lot of change at the club so things take a little time to settle,” Davidson responded when asked about the club’s defensive issues – they have conceded 28 goals in 12 league games.

“It probably will take time to get our defensive unit back to where it should be, but our club captain Dan Mcmurray suffered a serious injury last season and that was a massive blow for us.

“Dan is now getting himself back into fitness and being integrated slowly back into the team, and I think he is the best defender in the league when he is in form.

“We have a great bunch of lads here, and when you went on a run like the one that we were on then maybe it’s a little tricky to have the normal levels of confidence and self-belief.

“Colin [Mcilwaine, above] and George [O’boyle] have been very important in that respect, to keep us all motivated and believing in what we can do.

“We have so many options in attack – Matthew ‘Spike’ Ferguson is a great goalscorer, then Lukasz Gwiazda, Dylan Davidson and Jonathan Smith who were all in the top-flight last season, and Davey Graham too.

“We need to tighten up defensively and stop conceding silly goals.”

The Welders remain second from bottom in the division but are now just two points from Dergview in seventh.

“This is a dog eat dog league and we know how quickly things can change,” added Davidson, formerly of Lisburn Distillery and Ards.

“I think Newry have the best team in the league but we beat them earlier this season, and I don’t think there’s a notable difference between anyone else in the di“when vision. you’re down at the bottom of the division things feel like they are going against you every week, but now that we have points on the board you look at everything differently.

“There is no reason why we can’t go on a run of results now, it’s really difficult to do that in this division but we feel good about ourselves.”

IT was a weekend of shock results in the Championship with three of the bottom six recording victories against those in the top half. The biggest story came at Tillysburn Park, where H&W Welders recorded their first league win in eight games to defeat Portadown – who had previously been unbeaten in eight. Paddy Mcnally gave the Ports an early lead but a Scott Davidson header and second half strike from Matthew Ferguson won the points for Colin Mcilwaine’s side. That gave Loughgall the opportunity to replace Portadown at the top of the table and they duly did so with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Dergview. Goals from the league’s top scorer Nathaniel Ferris and midfielder Dale Malone put the Villagers in control at the break and despite Lee Upton’s own goal in the second half, Loughgall hung on for the points. Ballinamallard’s four-game winning run came to an unexpected end as they fell to a two-goal defeat at Ballyclare. Lukasz Adamcyzk – a summer signing from Carrick – and Thomas Robinson were on target for the Comrades, who now have seven points from their last four outings to climb into mid-table. Dundela could not take advantage of the Mallards slip-up and the East Belfast outfit remain in fourth despite a shock 5-2 loss at Queen’s. The Students had been on a worrying seven-game losing streak in the division but bounced back in style at the Dub, racing into an early four-goal lead. Jonah Mitchell, Matt Hughes, Davy Magee, Mark Mckenna and Ciaran O’hare were all on target for Peter Thompson’s men and, despite the Duns netting twice, there was no way back. Newry moved above Ards into fifth with a thumping 5-1 victory in the clash between two sides who spent last season in the top-flight. Adam Foley netted a hat-trick for Darren Mullen’s side while Mark Mccabe and Mark Hughes (penalty) were also on target, with Kyle Calderwood – on loan from Crusaders – netting for Ards. Knockbreda are now six points adrift at the foot of the table despite coming from behind to rescue a point against PSNI. Sean Green found the net for the South Belfast side but Conall Delaney rescued a point for Breda late on. GETTING A LEG UP Scott Davidson challenges Knockbreda’s Eddie Shaw during a recent match