Match Report

Match : 1st XI v Portadown
Date : 2002-12-14
Venue : H
Score : 1-2
Scorers : Swann

By Alan Burgess

This was the start of the second round of this season's fixtures and if the performance is repeated for the remainder of the season then we should start picking up points.

Yes we got beat 2-1, yes it was another defeat, but there were a lot of positives to come out of this game. We competed with, in my opinion, the best team in the league, we dominated in the second half, a new formation was tried out and worked, there were no fewer than 7 changes from the previous week yet everyone done what was asked of them.

The first half saw East pressing Portadown, they weren't given time on the ball to pick out an easy pass. East moved the ball quite well themselves at times in the first half, but it was Portadown who created most of the chances in the first half with Jonnie Hamill making some excellent saves. 0-0 at half time was pleasing for East as Portadown were 2-0 up at half time the week before so obviously progress had been made.

To be honest i can't remember Portadown's first goal in the second half but i certainly remember the second. Burgess drove into the Portadown circle and was stick tackled at least 4 times, had to be a short corner, oh no, the umpire asked Burgess "who's stick had been hit?" he replied, "you're the umpire you make the decisions", and while this "conversation" was taking place Portadown broke up the other end and scored, 2-0, just what we needed, up to now the game was very tight but we found ourselves 2-0 down. It was from this point in the game that East took control and pushed Portadown onto the back foot, Stephen Swann making his 200th appearance for the 1st XI scored with a well taken shot at the back post. 2-1 and all to play for.East applied all the pressure looking for the equaliser, with Portadown only creating a few chances on the break. East almost equalised in the dying seconds with a reverse flick from Burgess but the keeper made a good save.

This was a great team performance, the result did not go our way but I was still pleased with the effort and commitment shown. Looks like the new formation might be around for a while, Greame Reid as our star centre midfielder, what can i say. This was a pleasing display let's just hope it was not a flash in the pan.

J Hamill
A Murphy
D Menaul
P Fraser
A Burgess (capt)
D Caldwell
G Reid
N Hermon
S Swann
L Currie
P Irwin
B Watters

P Fraser