Two first half goals from Matthew Tipton (35mins) and Jamie Tomelty (37mins) gave the Ports a comfortable half-time lead over a battling Donegal Celtic at Shamrock Park tonight.   However the Ports were made to sweat for most of the second half as Darren Murray pulled one back for the visitors just a minute into the second half.  The goal seemed to spur DC on as the Ports struggled to find any sort of rthymn on the slippy Shamrock Park surface.  To make matters worse, the Ports lost influential midfielder Neil McCafferty midway through the half after he received a second yellow card and was promptly dismissed by referee Raymond Hetherington. 

Manager Ronnie McFall immediately substituted Matthew Tipton and brought on Richard Clarke to shore up the midfield in the absence of McCafferty, leaving Braniff as the loan target up front.   Despite Celtic pushing forward in numbers in search of the equaliser the Ports held firm and went on to secure another vital victory in this seasons title race.

Loading Images