PORTADOWN'S eagerly-awaited return to the All-Ireland League stage kicks off tomorrow afternoon with a home date against one of Irish football's most famous club clubs, Old Wesley.
It’s almost two years ago to the day since the Dublin 4 men last graced Chambers Park and on that occasion, too, their visit marked the start of an AIL campaign.
It finished 32-0 in their favour on October 14, 2006 and that was the first of 15 su
ch wounds, the combined effect of which saw Portadown relegated to Ulster’s Qualifying League having lost every match in the series.
The previous season, Wesley won the Donnybrook meeting by a 34-25 margin.
Portadown will be hoping for a re-run of the 2004/05 result when they won 29-0 at Chambers Park. Having lost each of their previous 11 AIL outings, that February 5, 2005 victory proved to be the locals’ salvation. They duly beat City of Derry and with Ballina winning only one match - against Portadown - the Chambers Park outfit beat the drop and earned themselves a stay of execution.
Much has changed since then, of course. For following the AIL horrors of 2005/06 and 2006/07, Portadown’s season of exile in the Qualifying League appears to have greatly helped rather than hindered them.
They bounced back at the first time of asking and having regained their AIL place they have done more than enough to suggest that they are fully entitled to senior status, witness an Ulster League draw and victory against Instonians and Malone respectively - both AIL division two clubs, note - to say nothing of last weekend’s AIB Cup triumph against fellow-third division Waterpark at Ballinakill.
Mark Neilly-captained Portadown will see tomorrow afternoon’s curtain-raiser as an opportunity to make the others sit up and take notice. The message he and his players will seek to send forth from Chambers Park is that Portadown aren’t just back; they are a whole lot better than when they last competed in the AIL’s third division.
Like the locals, Wesley go into tomorrow’s showdown off the back of an AIB Cup victory. The Dubliners beat Midleton 24-20 in County Cork, so earning themselves a home meeting with Clontarf next time out in that particular competition.
They scored three tries last weekend, with South African scrum-half Dan Van Zyl bagging a brace and Barry McLoughlin getting the other. David Smith converted all three and kicked a penalty.
That said, that was their only win in four outings, for prior to Saturday they had lost a trio of Leinster Cup matches.
The full article contains 447 words and appears in Portadown Times newspaper.
