Crusaders FC 3:2 Portadown: Premiership Match Result

Match report

Crusaders took three points from their third Premiership fixture by seeing off Portadoun 3-2 at home on Saturday. A. Brooks opened the scoring in the twelfth minute and added two more to complete a brace before the visitors pulled one back. Portadoun had their defender sent off near the half-hour mark, which shifted the balance of the contest.

And here's the thing about that opening goal. Brooks struck from close range after a period of sustained pressure, giving the home side the lead they would need. Portadoun tried to respond but found themselves chasing the game after Flanagan picked up his second yellow card in the thirty-ninth minute.

By then the visitors were down to ten men but still managed to create something. Altintop found the net for Portadoun in the fifty-fifth minute before Fyfe added a second for the visitors in the fifty-seventh. The home side responded through Brooks, who scored his third of the match in the fifty-ninth minute.

The managers turned to their benches as the game wore on. Portadoun brought on Carson and McKay in the early stages of the second half, while Crusaders made four changes between the sixty-fourth and sixty-seventh minutes. Brooks himself was withdrawn in the seventy-fourth minute, having already secured his place in the scoresheet.

To be fair, the statistics tell a different story from the result. Portadoun edged possession at 51 per cent and registered more attacks with 102 to 99. They also recorded five shots on target compared to four, yet the home side took their chances more effectively.

The result keeps Crusaders in fourth place on nine points from four games, with three wins and one defeat. Portadoun remain winless at the bottom of the table after four straight losses, sitting on zero points in eleventh place. The gap between the sides in the standings looks wider now than it did at the start of the season.

Prepared from match data

Key numbers

Possession, % 49 – 51

Shots on target 4 – 5

Shots off target 6 – 4

Attacks 99 – 102

⚽ 12' A. Brooks — Goal 🟨 21' F. Flanagan — Yellow card ⚽ 32' A. Brooks — Goal 🟨 39' F. Flanagan — Yellow card 🟥 39' F. Flanagan — Red card ⇄ 46' M. Carson — Substitution ⇄ 52' R. McKay — Substitution ⚽ 55' B. Altintop — Goal ⚽ 57' A. Brooks — Goal ⚽ 59' E. Fyfe — Goal ⇄ 64' J. Scott — Substitution ⇄ 65' J. Scott — Substitution ⇄ 67' J. Doherty — Substitution ⇄ 67' H. Jewitt-White — Substitution ⇄ 74' A. Brooks — Substitution ⇄ 89' R. Breen — Substitution 🟨 90+2' B. Kennedy — Yellow card

Match events

12' 1:0 Crusaders FC Goal A. Brooks
21' 1:0 Portadown Yellow card F. Flanagan
32' 2:0 Crusaders FC Goal A. Brooks
39' 2:0 Portadown Yellow card F. Flanagan
39' 2:0 Portadown Red card F. Flanagan
46' 2:0 Portadown Substitution M. Carson off: R. Minzamba
52' 2:0 Crusaders FC Substitution R. McKay off: L. Barr
55' 2:1 Portadown Goal B. Altintop
57' 3:1 Crusaders FC Goal A. Brooks
59' 3:2 Portadown Goal E. Fyfe
64' 3:2 Portadown Substitution J. Scott off: D. Martins
65' 3:2 Portadown Substitution J. Scott off: D. Martins
67' 3:2 Crusaders FC Substitution J. Doherty off: L. Anderson
67' 3:2 Crusaders FC Substitution H. Jewitt-White off: D. Rocks
74' 3:2 Crusaders FC Substitution A. Brooks off: A. Reid
89' 3:2 Portadown Substitution R. Breen off: C. Falls
90+2' 3:2 Portadown Yellow card B. Kennedy

Statistics

49 Possession, % 51

4 Shots on target 5

6 Shots off target 4

99 Attacks 102

3 Corners 3

12 Free kicks 8

4 Offsides 2

0 Yellow cards 2

0 Red cards 1

8 Goal kicks 7

15 Throw-ins 24

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