McFall’s praise for young guns
RONNIE McFALL was delighted not only with the result on Tuesday night but also how his young guns stepped up under difficult circumstances.
The draining combination of suspensions and injuries – plus Shane McCabe’s surprise exit – left the Ports with a depleted panel for the tough trip to take on Ballymena United.
McFall turned to reserve-team players such as Stephen Acheson, Matthew Brown and Shane McKinney to bolster his substitutes’ bench.
With experienced options like McCabe, Garry Breen, Brian Gartland and Neil McCafferty ruled out of selection, the Ports boss opted to call on Matthew Paget and Andrew Burns for the starting line-up.
It was a decision that produced a crucial reward.
“We were down to the bones but, to be honest, I still would not have called on those players in the squad against Ballymena without confidence in the ability to step up,” said McFall. “It was a great result, especially off the back of the Shane McCabe shock.
“We have a proud record during my time at this club of promoting young players and will continue to turn to that area.
“Both Matthew and Andrew were impressive, especially with so many players ruled out.
“Matthew is a different type of player to Shane McCabe but has the ability to get forward and he scored two special goals.
“We also had Keith O’Hara and Sean Mackle still recovering from problems but patched up and willing to play.
“Sean is an under-rated player and he produced a fantastic pass for our first goal, plus has responded well to last night’s match following his hamstring problem.
“It was all about getting in and out with the result.”
Portadown will make the trip to take on Lisburn Distillery tomorrow (Saturday) with a similar outcome the goal.
“I was at the Lisburn Distillery match against Glentoran and we can expect a tough game this weekend,” said McFall. “Obviously having Neil, Brian and Garry available will give us a boost.”
Kick-off will be 3 o’clock.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portadown
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 8 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South east
