Portadown win first game of season against Limavady
Portadown win first game of season against Limavady
John McGovern - BBC Sport NI ContributorSat, October 3, 2026 at 4:14 PM UTC
0
Irish Premiership
Portadown 3 - 1 Limavady United FT
Portadown claimed their first Irish Premiership victory of the season with a 3-1 win over nine-man Limavady United at Shamrock Park.
The Ports had taken just one point from their opening nine league matches, but second-half goals from Baris Altintop and Ben Kennedy secured a much-needed victory for David Jeffrey's side.
Limavady's afternoon unravelled late on as Tiarnan Boorman and substitute Leon Boyd were both shown straight red cards.
The result means that Portadown, who remain bottom of the table, are now a point behind Bangor.
Ports secure first victory
Portadown suffered an early setback when Rhys Breen was forced off after three minutes, but his replacement James Teelan made an immediate impact by opening the scoring.
Advertisement
Matthew Carson's dangerous delivery was headed into Teelan's path and the substitute fired a low effort beyond Martin Gallagher.
Limavady responded just two minutes later when Ronan Wilson threaded a pass behind the Portadown defence for Jamie McGonigle, who raced into the area and drove across Aaron McCarey for his sixth league goal of the season.
McCarey later raced from his goal to pressure Philip Lowry into shooting wide after McGonigle had sent him clear.
The visitors started the second half brightly, but Portadown regained the lead when Ben Kennedy switched play to Altintop, who found himself in space on the left and fired beyond Gallagher.
Kennedy then made it 3-1 after 75 minutes, meeting Jack Scott's free-kick at the far post and finding the net.
Adam Towe almost added a fourth when Teelan released him on the counter-attack, but his effort struck the post.
Limavady's frustration showed in the closing stages as Boorman was dismissed after bringing down Kennedy when through on goal after 83 minutes.
Boyd was then shown a straight red for a late challenge on Carson in the 89th minute as the Roesiders finished with nine men.
Source: “AOL Sports”
