Perfect for Paget
Matthew Paget celebrates his first goal against Ballymena United on Tuesday night. Pic by Press Eye
MATTHEW Paget picked the perfect time to open his Portadown account – with the young midfielder’s midweek brace helping revitalise the Carling Premiership title push.
Paget turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win away to Ballymena United with his first senior goals for his hometown team. As a result – plus thanks to Coleraine’s defeat of the league leaders – Portadown sit just four points off the defending champions, Linfield.
The 21-year-old is keen to push on now and grab the opportunity presented by Shane McCabe’s sudden departure.
“It is up to me to make the most of any chance I can get and, to be honest, I am still buzzing thinking about the Ballymena match,” said Paget, a product of the club’s youth development programme. “Sean Mackle was quick to remind me after the match about the pass he played in for the first goal and I ended up wearing a spare part of Matthew Tipton’s boots as both sets I had were not ideal for the pitch.
“The banter has been good with the other lads and everyone just mobbed me when I made it 2-1.
“When I scored the first goal I wanted to run over to the bench and celebrate with Stephen Acheson as we would be good friends, however, I couldn’t go off the field of play.
“When the winner went in I just wanted to celebrate in front of the fans, especially as they deserved the result after travelling to Ballymena on such a cold Tuesday night.
“However, I didn’t get the chance as the other players jumped on top of me and went mad.
“It just shows the team spirit in the club and that character helped us get the result against Ballymena despite not playing especially well.
“Playing beside someone with Richard Clarke’s experience and quality is just brilliant but I feel comfortable around everyone else now, having been in and out of the squad for some time.
“The manager and coaching team have just encouraged me to go out and play my natural game but I accept there must also be a sense of responsibility when you pull on a Portadown jersey.
“I am from the town so know what it means to line out for this club and just love the fact that I was able to play my part in such a big win.”
Paget is determined to build on the Ballymena progress and add to this week’s highlights reel.
“It is just a case of working hard but also staying patient and putting the focus on developing my game,” he said. “Mark Porter and Trevor Williamson brought me to the club as a teenager so it is great to get the chance with the firsts.
“Now is all about moving onwards and upwards so adding a few more goals would be perfect.
“I have played in pretty much every position down the years so it is hard to class myself as a particular type.
“However, we had been working a lot in training on getting around the edge of the area for any loose balls and it panned out well against Ballymena so maybe I can weigh in with a few more goals.”
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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
