Report By Glenn Kelly
Crusaders made short work of a bottom-of-the-table Portadown to pick up a 4-0 victory at Seaview.
Crusaders controlled large swathes of the game. Adam Lecky opening the scoring on 20 minutes with an accurate header. McCauley Snelogrove scored after a neat 1-2 11 minutes later. Lecky got his second just after the break with a penalty and Jude Winchester completed the scoring in the 51st minute with a curling effort.
Stephen Baxter made three changes to his starting lineup from last weeks victory over Glenavon, with Lecky, Winchester and Snelgrove coming into the side.
Portadown were hoping to get their first win over Crusaders since 2015. But it was Crusaders who dominated early possession creating a number of chances that failed to test Ruadhan McKenna in the Portadown goal. However, that all changed in the 20th minute, when Lecky opened the scoring with a fine header into the top right corner from an outstanding cross from Jarlath O'RourkePaul Doolin’s men continued to struggle to gain a foothold in the game with Snelgrove and Lecky enjoying success down the Crusaders right. This continuing pressure told in the 31st minute when Crusaders doubled their lead. A smart one-two between the dangerous duo inside the box ended with Snelgrove slotting home from close range.Portadown did manage two shots on target from distance in the first half but these were confortable dealt with by Jonathan Tuffey in the Crusaders goal.
If Portadown were hoping for an improvement in the second half, Crusaders had other ideas. On 46 minutes an agricultural challenge from Lee Upton on Lecky inside the Portadown box led to a penalty. The big striker dusted himself down to smash down the middle to make it 3-0.. Things went from bad to worse for Doolin’s troops just five minutes later. Winchester was given far too much time on the edge of the box and took full advantage by curling his effort superbly into the right hand corner for Crusaders 4th.With the pressure continuing, Portadown were lucky to escape conceding a 5th goal in the 70th minute. Substitute Dean Ebbe hitting a thunderbolt from the edge of the area which crashed off the crossbar.. To their credit Portadown battled on. However, Crusaders ultimately closed out the game more comfortably than they could have hoped for (almost scoring a looping effort from all of 40 yards from Jordan Forsythe in injury time) to maintain their unbeaten home record, with Snelgrove picking up the man of the match.
The manager will be delighted with the dominating fashion of victory, next up for Stephen Baxter’s men is a trip to Dungannon Swifts next Saturday.
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