Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MURRAY IN A HURRY
Ex-blueman is Ports star with super double in derby win
PORTADOWN fullback Greg Hall played down his brilliant goal-line stop that prevented Glenavon from drawing level and maybe even presenting them with a big opportunity to go on and win the game.
Matthew Tippton’s young side were 2-1 to the good at this stage of the second half but the Lurgan Blues were in the ascendancy and when Danny Purkis got on the end of a right wing cross his headed effort had goal written all over it until Hall popped up on the line to head clear (circled right).
“It happened so quickly but thankfully I was in the right spot if he’d (Purkis) headed the ball just a bit either side of me it would definitely have been a goal,” said Hall.
The 31-year-old, who cut his teeth in the Irish League as a teenager at Distillery under Paul Kirk, before establishing himself as a fullback at Banbridge Town and Loughgall and then spending six years at Ards under Niall Currie who he then followed to Shamrock Park three seasons ago, was delighted with their win in Lurgan.
However, the Ballynahinch man, who was an int egral par t of Tipton’s promotion winning team last season, admitted they were under the cosh in the second-half but he felt his fellow defenders coped really well.
“Their two substitutes made a difference for them after the break and to be fair to Glenavon they made us work hard for what we got,” admitted Hall.
The first Mid-ulster Premiership derby in three and a half years couldn’t have started any better for the visitors, and particularly for former Glenavon striker Stephen Murray who bagged a first-half double on his return to Mourneview Park.
Murray’s opening goal was a quick-fire response to a bit of early Glenavon pressure when with only seven minutes on the clock he got on the end of Chris s
Lavery’s left-wing cross to o take advantage of a slip p by Glenavon keeper Taylor r to slot home a left-footed d opener at the back post.
A d e l i g h t e d Mur ray y acknowledged the part t
Lavery played in his goal l and shortly after he had again reason to thank his team-mate when the former Glentoran man played a super defence-splitting pass which he took in his stride before side-footing, with his right boot on this occasion, through the legs of Taylor.
Gary Hamilton’s response to what he had witnessed in the opening 45 was to introduce fullback Jack O’mahoney and Conor Mccloskey and within minutes the Lurgan Blues’ problem right-hand side became the avenue for most of their attacks – a fact that was illustrated
BONIS GOAL Striker Lee Bonis slides in to score
when the pair combined for Mccloskey to drive the ball invitingly across the front of the Portadown goal where Peter Campbell met it to slot home.
Buoyed by this goal, as expected, Glenavon ramped up the pressure in search of an equaliser but the Portadown defence, with centre-half Mcnally particularly impressive, held firm and within minutes of that Hall i nter vention they sprang forward to restore their two-goal lead.
This time the visitors advanced down the Lurgan Blues left flank – Nathan Kerr finding the run of Murray who in turn whipped in a teasing cross cr that his fellow striker Lee Bonis did really well to get on the end of and steer a parting shot high into the Glenavon net.
However, within minutes the potential for a grand-slam finish materialised when Mccloskey delivered a right wing corner that was met by the head of James Singleton to again reduce the arrears.
Cue more Glenavon pressure and then another trademark break from Portadown – the experienced Aaron Burns, introduced from the bench – was set free on the left by a Murray pass and when a cross looked the right option the former Linfield
BURNS NIGHT Ports’ Aaron Burns scored side’s fourth midfielder drove a left-footed shot inside Taylor’s right-hand post to earn Portadown derby bragging rights and their first three points on their returnto top flight.
GLENAVON: J Taylor, R Norton (sub. O’mahony, 46 mins), Birney, Coates, Singleton, Byrne (Mccloskey, 46), Snoddy, Garrett, Campbell, Purkis, Jenkins (Hamilton 75). Unused subs: Larmour, Doyle, O Taylor, H Norton. PORTADOWN: Pierce, Hall, Finnegan, Mcnally, Kerr, Wilson, Tipton, Guy (Burns 61), Lavery, Bonis, Murray. Unused subs: Pengelly, Crane, Mccallum, Mcgrandles, Croskery, Glenfield.
REFEREE: Ian Mcnabb (Carrick).