Portadown 1st xv Report

Portadown travelled to Omagh on Saturday. While the game was from the start a
difficult hurdle it turned into more of a nightmare for Portadown.
After the long travel they started well scoring first and looked to be on the way to a
good win. But the wheels came of. Errors lets in the younger Omagh backs and they
got a couple of scores.
Portadown rallied and fought back but the weather and cold led to more dropped
balls and gave Omagh possession they did not deserve.
The Portadown pack worked hard to gain ground and came close once or twice only
for Omagh to turn over and get out of jail.
Then another score by Omagh took the bonus out of Portadowns reach.
The final score 18 points to 5 left Portadown travelling home wondering what
happened.
All is not lost but there are now 4 teams fighting for the 3 rd and 4th pace in the league
to get an Irish Junior cup place next year. Portadown have a game in hand on
Omagh and Ballyclare and will hope to make that count. With the final games against
Ballyclare, Cooke, Ards, Instonians and Bangor it will be a close fought finish.
The players travel to Clogher in the Towns Cup which is not going to an easy tie. The
next week it Ards in the league and the team will want to get those league points
back on track with that one.

Portadown 2nd xv Report

Portadown seconds played host to Cavan on Saturday. It was a wet and windy day
so the seconds knew it would be a tough test against a strong Cavan side.
Portadown had the wind in the first half and started as they had left off against
Ballymoney and went on the attack from the whistle. The forwards set up a good
base for the backs and Stephen Buckley soon crossed the line for Portadown's first
try. Then it was the forward's turn, David Whitten kicked the ball to the corner from a
penalty and the forwards set up an unstoppable driving maul with big Rodney Blair at
the back to crash over the line for another try. The forwards were on the score board
again when the referee awarded a penalty try after the pack drove a five metre
scrum over the Cavan line and they infringed before the ball could be dotted down.
Cavan started to come back into the game for a spell but Portadown regrouped and
Andrew Chambers, who made a welcome return after a long period of injury, put on
the after burners to sprint clear and score the bonus point try. After the break
Portadown were playing into an increasingly strong wind and Cavan took advantage

to push the blues back to their five metre line. Then came the try of the season.
From a five metre lineout Portadown secured the ball and instead of trying to clear
into a strong wind the blues decided to move the ball through the hands. Everyone in
the team touched the ball at least once as Portadown went the length of the field and
Andrew Chambers finished in the corner for his second try. Cavan used the wind to
get down to the Portadown line again. This time they got over for a try of their own
after a few pick and goes. This made the blues even more determined to finish
strongly and so they did. John Purdy came off the bench and made a big impact with
his strong ball carrying and breaking through tackles. Thomas Johnston, who was
awarded man of the match, had an outstanding game and got two tries of his own.
Captain Dean Hardy also got on the score sheet with a try for the second week in a
row, after a barn storming run. David Whitten had a great game at outhalf and
finished with a personal points total of 18 including a try. So Portadown seconds stay
top of the league after a 53 - 7 bonus point victory.

The Under 14s travelled to Cavan and won 31 points to 5.