Ports boss hits out at midweek fixture to Dollingstown

The Ports boss said he is ‘struggling’ to field a team for the fixture, which will kick off at 6.30, due to the absence of flood lights at the championship two ground on the outskirts of Lurgan.

“We had other fixtures against Limavady and Ballymoney rearranged to a Saturday, yet this one, which is one of the furthest away in the league is scheduled for a Tuesday night at 6.30.

“Players are at work, and I can’t even get some of the younger boys from the Reserves as they are at school.

“Add to that we will be hitting peak traffic as we travel.

“This is a part time league, all these issues should be taken into account, it’s ridiculous,” said the Portstewart boss.

Taylor was also critical of refereering decisions as his side slipped to a 1-0 defeat against Newington on Saturday.

The game, at Portstewart, saw Richard Vauls being sent off and a string of what the Portstewart boss described as ‘silly decisions’ being made by the man in the middle.

“The decisions were awful, many were just unfair,” he said. “Then there was only two minutes of added time played, yet we had six subs made and a sending off. There was no doubt that the decisions hampered us, players were annoyed and that had an impact on play.

Newington scored ten minutes after the restart but after that Portstewart dominated play.

Efforts by Johnny Stewart, Ryan Doherty, Robert Donnell and Ryan McAllister came to nothing, as Portstewart walked away with no points.

“We need to get back on track again,” said Taylor. “We have Queen’s this Saturday at home, we will have Luke Bradley back again and a few others who were struggling with injuries. “They are a good footballing team, and I think if we get our heads right we will get something from the tie.”

He had a special mention for Portstewart front man Johnny Stewart, who he says is low in confidence.

“Johnny had two good chances in front of goal on Saturday, he is just low in confidence.

“He hasn’t scored in a few weeks, but I have no doubt that once he gets one goal, he’ll be back on track.