No sunshine as Port defeated

Published 10 May 2010 14:00 0 Comments

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LATE EFFORT: Jonathan Donnelly came closest for Port Glasgow.

IT MAY have been a bright, sunny day at Ravenscraig on Saturday, but unfortunately the football on display failed to match the overhead conditions.

With Port Glasgow's place in the First Division virtually secure before kick-off, it was evident the match meant much more to the visitors, who needed the points in their quest for promotion.

But Port fans will have been disappointed with the fact their side had virtually no serious attempts at goal throughout the entire 90 minutes, aside from a Jonathan Donnelly effort right at the death.

To be fair, though, the Port were affected by a lack of manpower. Paul Stanton and Paul Temporal failed pre-match fitness tests, while up front there was no Kevin Struthers, the striker having left in midweek for his three-month stint in Canada.

Struthers hadn't been at his best recently, but there's no doubt his presence in attack was missed.

Shotts took the lead after just eight minutes, when an attempted clearance fell kindly for Tony Fleming in the Port box, and he rifled a low shot past Sean Graham.

With nothing else of note in the first half, it took until 61 minutes before the next serious action, a goal-line clearance by Stewart Jack to stop a Darren Ferguson shot from going in.

With Shotts pressing hard, Graham pulled off a fine stop to deny Mark Duffy who was clean through on goal, but the visitors eventually doubled their lead on 65 minutes.

There seemed little danger when John Boyack collected the ball 25 yards out, but his snap shot fooled everyone, not least Graham, who was rooted to the spot as the ball flew into the net.

A rare mix-up in the visitors' defence gave Donnelly a chance but his lob went over the bar and seconds later referee James Burns blew for full-time to put the game out of its misery.

Port Glasgow assistant manager Scott Jackson said: "There was a bit of an end-of-season feel about our performance, but Shotts are a quality team, and undoubtedly one of the two best sides in the First Division.

"It was a loss not having the two Pauls in defence, but the guys who came in did well."

This was the start of a frantic spell for Port Glasgow, with four games in eight days. They entertain Blantyre Vics at Ravenscraig on Wednesday, then head to Larkhall on Saturday for their final league match.

Before then, though, there's a Central League Cup third round clash with Pollok this evening at Newlandsfield in Glasgow.

By their own high standards, Pollok have had a dismal season.

Out of all the major cup competitions, they can now finish no better than fourth in the Super Premier League, and had three men sent off in a 3-1 defeat to Irvine Meadow on Saturday.

Nevertheless, they still present a major challenge for Port Glasgow, who will have to raise their game from Saturday's performance to have any hope of reaching the quarter-finals.

Kick-off is at 7.15pm, with the match going to penalties if level after 90 minutes.

PORT GLASGOW: Graham, McCann, Coyle, Brown, Jack, K.McKay, F.McKay, Wilson, Nugent, Donnelly, Beckley. Subs not used: Stanton, Piggott, Kidd.

Port Glasgow Juniors are sponsored by 5 Star Plasterers, and WJ.

This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 10 May 10

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