Portadown 1
Ballymena United 1
League (Premier Division)

Match Report

A silver face mask, a manager sent off, two goals - but there was precious little to cheer about as Portadown and Ballymena played out a drab 1-1 draw at Shamrock Park.

Ballymena boss, Alan Fraser was red-carded near the end and Portadown's Greg Davidson was the wearer of the mask.

Ballymena manager, Alan Fraser, was ordered out of the dugout on 82 minutes when he lambasted a linesman for an offside decision and watched the rest of the match from behind the wall.

The only real talking points of a drab first half was Portadown's masked invader Greg Davidson, back after a month's layoff with a fractured cheek bone.

Sporting a 'Phantom of the Opera' type face mask, Davidson was one of the few players on song in what was billed as a top of the table encounter, but which looked more like a reserve kick-about.

Alfie Stewart almost scored his first goal for a year when he lobbed over from 30 yards just after the restart. Then Arkins flashed a header against the crossbar.

Portadown spent 20 minutes encamped in the Ballymena half, but it was the Light Blues who opened the score with a penalty by Jason Allen after Barry Patton was pulled down by Alfie Stewart.

Knell almost made it two on 72 minutes when he flicked over the top after being sent through by Muir, and Arkins squandered an easy chance when he blasted over from eight yards.

Portadown equalised on 75 minutes and it was inevitably Vinny Arkins - he headed his 10th goal of the season from an inch perfect Russell corner.

Match report written by Irelands Saturday Night (4 October 1997)