Ten-man Donegal Celtic snatched a share of the spoils with an unlikely late rally during an eight-goal Suffolk Road thriller against Portadown on Tuesday night.
Donegal Celtic 4 - 4 Portadown
Wee Hoops boss Marty Tabb will look back at this one with mixed emotions as his side squandered a two-goal lead, but then fought back from the same deficit to come away with a point.
He also felt frustrated at the non-award of a penalty in the 55th minute when Eamonn McAllister appeared to be hauled down, but on reflection was happy with the fighting qualities shown by his players.
"I just said to the boys they got everything they deserved. We started so well and it was disappointing to be pulled back, but at 4-2 with five minutes to play and to come back I have to give them great credit," said Tabb.
"I thought we should have had a penalty and the sending off was harsh too. Maybe it wasn't, but from where we were it just seemed it was two lads going in hard for the ball.
"So, being 4-2 down and a man down was a great comeback from the lads."
It was Donegal Celtic who drew first blood when talisman Paul McVeigh opened the scoring on six minutes with a finish to the right corner after being put in by Daniel Hanna.
DC certainly drew confidence from this and could have made it two on 13 minutes but Aidan McVeigh's shot was well saved by Miskelly.
The visitors seemed to be growing into the contest but were rocked on 33 minutes when Paul McVeigh grabbed his second of the night. 'Maxi' latched onto a punt downfield from Darren McNamee and his half blocked shot from just inside the box looped over the despairing Miskelly to send the home support into raptures.
Their joy was short-lived however as Portadown pulled one back from the restart when Wesley Boyle slotted past Sean McGreevey.
For the remaining ten minutes of the half it was the visitors who were on top. They had chances to level when Chris Ramsey's cross come shot flashed just wide and went closer still when Kevin Braniff's thunderous shot crashed off the bar.
It seemed only a matter of time before Ronnie McFall's side would equalise. In the last minute of the half it duly arrived, and what a goal it was. Braniff may have been denied by the upright just minutes earlier but his 30 yard thunderbolt dipped over McGreevy and into the net to send the teams in at the break level.
Portadown opened the second half brighter and seconds after the introduction of Richard Clarke on the hour, they went ahead. Neal McCaffrey fed Boyle out on the left and his lovely curling shot found the corner of the net.
Portadown always seemed to be in control and while Donegal Celtic began to claw their way back, they were not threatening Miskelly's goal and were hit with a fourth on 74 minutes when Boyle's by-line cutback was turned in by Braniff.
Matters got worse for DC when Gargan was shown a straight red-card for a dangerous challenge on Chris Ramsey.
Just when it seemed the game was petering out, there was late drama. First off, McVeigh completed his hat-trick with a glancing header in the 90th minute and two minutes into time added on, substitute Tomás McCann's deflected shot whizzed past Miskelly to snatch an unlikely draw.
Afterwards, the DC manager paid tribute to hat-trick hero Paul McVeigh and goalkeeper Sean McGreevey who both played key roles in this performance. While conceding four, the DC and Antrim custodian produced a number of saves to keep his team in the game while 'Maxi' again proved his value to the Suffolk Road club.
With an away trip to Newry at the weekend, Tabb believes this Lazarus-like recovery will instil confidence in his players that they can indeed compete in the Premiership this season.
"Credit to Maxi; we put it to him beforehand that he needed to step it up and he certainly did by scoring a hat-trick against one of the top teams in the league," revealed Tabb.
"Sean McGreevey had a great game and the lad Tomás McCann who came in and got into the areas we wanted him to be and produced.
"We said tonight we didn't want to be beaten and credit to the lads for keeping their determination and showing a lot of character, so that will give us heart going to Newry at the weekend."
Donegal Celtic: McGreevey, Lambe, Spence, Hanna, McMenamin, Gargan, A McVeigh (T McCann 76 mins), Henderson (Carville 76 mins), McAllister (Dixon 76 mins), P McVeigh, McNamee.
Portadown: Miskelly, Ramsey, Redman, O'Hara, Kelly, Boyle, Braniff, Mouncey, Baker (Lockey 78 mins), McCaffrey, McStay (Clarke 60 mins).
Referee: Brian Turkington
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