Crues loss was huge blow: Gary
Saturday, October 13, 2007
By Ruth Gorman
Portadown's goal ace Gary McCutcheon has admitted Tuesday night's dramatic
CIS Insurance Cup defeat to Crusaders is still hard to take in.
Stephen Baxter's men staged an incredible comeback at Shamrock Park,
restoring a two goal deficit twice during the CIS Cup quarter-final.
McCutcheon (right) and his strike partner Marc McCann put the Ports 2-0 up
within the opening nine minutes before Declan Caddell pulled one back for
the Crues on 31 minutes.
McCutcheon added his second before the break and admitted he saw no way back
for his opponents.
"We were well in control of the game and at 3-1 up at half time we never
thought they were going to win it," reflected McCutcheon.
But three second half goals in the space of seven minutes, two from David
Rainey and one from Stevie Coulter, were enough to knock Portadown out of
the competition at the same stage as last year.
"It is the worst way to loose, we got caught out during a crazy seven
minutes and that was all it took for them to win," continued the Scotsman.
"It's very hard to take but we are still capable of winning things."
Speaking of winning things, the league is always one of Ronnie McFall's main
targets but his side have already dropped what could prove to be vital
points after losing to Cliftonville and Linfield.
"We've lost three games in a row now, including the Crusaders game, which is
very disappointing," added McCutcheon.
"But I do believe we should be in a much better position because we have
done enough to win the games.
"We should have beaten Cliftonville and we were unlucky against Linfield.
Hopefully we can go on another great run now like we did last season."
