Matthew Tipton happy with the performance if not the result

Overall Tipton was pleased with his side’s efforts, much as he was in the 2-2 draw at Glentoran seven days earlier.

However, he was quick to point out the big difference was they failed to capitalise on the opportunities they created atThe Showgrounds compared to how they did at The Oval last week.

“We’re not coming away saying we passed them off the park or anything like that,” he said.

“But what we did was we made ourselves hard to beat and give ourselves a platform to go and play from.

“By and large we did that today and we certainly did that last week.

“This week though we didn’t capitalise on the opportunities we created.

“We’ve scored five goals in our last two away games and we back ourselves to go and do that.

“These things happen in football, we have to pick ourselves up now and go again on Tuesday at Cliftonville.

“Whilst I wasn’t delighted with the performance or anything like that, there wasn’t a lot that annoyed me if I’m being honest.

“Alright a little bit of quality here and there and a bit better decision making, but I thought overall we looked like we knew what we were doing as a team.”

It was a game of very few chances with the Ports onlt really testing Gareth Deane through an Adam Salley effort in the first half.

Coleraaine carved out the better chances but needed a Paul Finnegan own goal to put them in front before the half hour.

The visitors pressed forward more after the break without really forcing the home defence into too much action.

But the Ports also restricted Coleraine to few opportunities up until stoppage time.

Portadown had the chance to put the Bannsiders under pressure for one last time as George Tipton stood over a set-piece.