Portadown manager Niall Currie heaped praise on his players after their 2-0 Irish Premiership win over nine-man Cliftonville which moved the Shamrock Park outfit up to third spot in the table.
Ryan Mayse’s fourth-minute goal gave the Ports a deserved lead and Ahu Obhakhan doubled their advantage in first-half injury-time after Reds pair Conor Pepper and Jonny Addis were red carded.
“The first half was brilliant. Whenever you come up against the kind of quality that Cliftonville have, you have to stay in the game for the initial 15, 20 minutes,” said Currie.
“We started really well. We had a lot about us. Our endeavour was good, our hunger was good and our control of the game was pretty decent.”
The Ports were already bossing the game when Pepper was sent off at the hour hour mark after picking up his second yellow card in four minutes.
“We were at a high level in the first half. We had a good balance about us. We had great options in wide areas. We carried a threat throughout the whole game,” added Currie.
But while thrilled with his players’ display, Currie insisted that his players must not get “carried away”.
“We’re over the moon at the situation we’re in at the moment but we also understand that football changes very quickly and I know that as a manager.
“We’ve got to keep focusing and working hard.”