Institute left devastated as Portadown hit 97th minute winner at the Brandywell

Institute 1

Portadown 2

The ten men of Institute had their hearts broken 97 minutes into an enthralling game at the Brandywell with Portadown striking late to keep their promotion hopes alive.

Down to ten men for over 90 minutes following the early dismissal of Danny Lafferty, ‘Stute went into the half time break ahead through Mikhail Kennedy’s penalty. Even though they then gifted their opponents an equaliser, they looked to be holding on for a point until substitute Eoghan McCawl struck deep into the 97th minute to win the game.

The game started in the worst possible fashion for ‘Stute as they found themselves down to 10 men after just five minutes. Danny Lafferty got caught in a race with Eamon Fyfe, and the Portadown man got the advantage to head through on goal, only to go down under pressure from the defender. Viewing it as the denial of a goal-scoring opportunity, the referee produced the red card, ‘Stute’s fifth of the season, a massive blow especially given the importance of the game.

‘Stute adapted to the circumstances well and stayed right in there with Portadown, remaining to look a threat with BJ Banda testing Aaron Higg with a good effort from distance.

The home side needed to be focused in defence with their numerical disadvantage, but they put themselves in trouble on 35 minutes when Liam Mullan gave the ball away in his own area and Paul McElroy almost took immediate advantage, trying a rising shot from the angle which Gareth Muldoon had to push over his crossbar.

Portadown were applying the pressure as half time approached, and Muldoon made a good save to deny Ryan Mayse, whose volley from 18 yards was headed to the bottom corner.

But there was real controversy on the stroke of half time. BJ Banda broke through on goal and was fouled as he attempted to round goalkeeper Aaron Hogg. Referee pointed to the penalty spot but only opted to caution the goalkeeper, much to the disbelief of Kevin Deery and his players. Nevertheless, Kennedy kept his head when called upon, to fire in his eighth goal for the club to send the 10-men into the break a goal up.

Half Time 1-0

‘Stute lost their lead just five minutes into the second half and it was a gift of a goal to Portadown. Muldoon looked favourite to gather a cross from Ryan Mayse, but the goalkeeper only managed to punch it under his own crossbar, which allowed Aaron Traynor to finish easily from close range.

The game remained in the balance right until the closing stages, and Muldoon came to his team’s rescue on 75 minutes. A clearance forward deflected into the pat of McElroy, who was in behind, but his left-footed effort was blocked by the ‘Stute goalkeeper, who stuck out his left leg to turn the ball away from goal.

‘Stute had a great chance to win the game themselves in the last five minutes and it was a big moment for Michael Harris, who ran onto Jamie Dunne’s free kick, but couldn’t direct his header on target from six yards, Portadown surviving a big chance.

‘Stute looked to be hanging on for a deserved point, but McCawl struck with virtually the last kick of the game to devastate Deery and his players.

Teams

Institute: Gareth Muldoon, Danny Lafferty, Shaun Leppard, Dylan King, Caoimhin Porter, Liam Mullan (Boyle 65’), Oisin Devlin, Sean McGinty (Dunne 75’), Michael Harris (Tiarnan McKinney 89’), BJ Banda (Carlin 65’), Mikhail Kennedy (McLaughlin 75’).

Portadown: 18 Aaron Hogg, 4 Douglas Wilson (Dale Montgomery 30’), 6 Luke Wilson, 7 Lee Chapman, 9 Paul McElroy, 10 Ryan Mayse, 12 Kenneth Kane (McCawl 62’), 13 Eamon Fyfe (Barr 72’), 14 Jack Henderson (Russell 62’), 16 Aaron Traynor, 26 Gary Thompson.

Referee: Ryan Hanna.