The Sky Blues went into this game on the back of six straight defeats and had gone over six and a half hours without a goal - so confidence was low going into a very big game at Warden Street.

Despite Ballymena's attacking intentions - with the recalled Mark Picking and Davitt Walsh, it was all Portadown in the opening periods. Their tight passing interchanges tearing the Ballymena defence to shreds, but lacked a final touch.

Michael Collins and Richard Clarke dominated the early midfield battles, and the visiting Ports created a number of half-chances with Gareth McKeown and Andy Smith coming close.

Most of the home side's opportunities came on the counter-attack and it was Mark Picking who fired an ambitious attempt on 16 minutes when his long range shot was tipped over the crossbar by David Miskelly in the Portadown goal.

Portadown continued to attack, and at the other end Paul Murphy saved Alan Taggart's stinging shot and also blocked an attempted rebound from Richard Clarke - to keep the scores level.

Recent signing at Shamrock Park, Andy Smith, was claiming for a penalty after half an hour when Johnny Flynn took the ball superbly from the feet of the former Northern Ireland international - referee Stephen Weatherall waved for play to continue despite Smith's calls.

In first-half stoppage time though the duck was broken; Simon Kelly, still performing in his unfamiliar full back role, floated a great cross in which was met by the head of Kevin Kelbie to head home his second goal of the season and send the United support into raptures.

Murphy had to be alert again after the break, when his foot prevented Kevin Braniff's attempt going in. Minutes later Andy Smith fired a free-kick from 25 yards which wasn't too far away, however just went wide.

With 20 minutes left on the clock, a quick breakaway from the Sky Blues effectively sealed the win. Garth Scates released Kevin Kelbie down the left wing. The Scot marauded down the flank before cutting the ball across to partner Davitt Walsh who fired home number two.

That goal was the on-loan striker's seventh goal of the season.

Portadown pulled a goal back with five minutes left as Stranraer-based striker Gary McCutcheon fired through a crowded area and the ball took a wicked deflection to wrong foot Murphy and set up a tense finish.

However, the Sky Blues held out for their second league win of the season and their first in seven games.

Tommy Wright was pleased with his players after the game; "They proved a handful against a very good side. Overall I can't fault the players. In midfield against Mickey Collins and Richard Clarke you have to win it in there and I thought Garth Scates and Gavin Melaugh were excellent.

"We'll enjoy it, but there's no point beating Portadown and then going and losing at Armagh, so we'll enjoy it. There's still room for improvement."

Teams:

BALLYMENA UNITED	PORTADOWN
1: MURPHY, Paul	1: MISKELLY, David
2: KELLY, Simon	2: CRAIG, Phillip
3: McCLEAN, Craig	3: O'HARA, Keith
4: HAVERON, Gary	4: McKEOWN, Gareth
5: WATSON, Albert (c)	5: CONVERY, John (c)
6: FLYNN, Johnny	6: CLARKE, Richard
7: PICKING, Mark	7: BRANIFF, Kevin
8: SCATES, Garth	8: COLLINS, Michael
10: KELBIE, Kevin	9: McCUTCHEON, Gary
11: MELAUGH, Gavin	10: SMITH, Andy
17: WALSH, Davitt	11: TEGGART, Alan
Substitutes	-
9: FITZGERALD, Darren	12: REDMAN, Ross
Replaced Davitt Walsh (85 mins)	Not Used
12: CUSHLEY, David	13: ARMSTRONG, Neil
Not Used	Not Used
14: PATRICK, Lee	14: DERRY, Niall
Replaced Mark Picking (87 mins)	Replaced Alan Teggart (63 mins)
15: LOWRY, Stephen	15: McCULLOUGH, David
Not Used	Replaced Richard Clarke (85 mins)
16: WRAY, Thomas	16: HAIRE, Aaron
Not Used	Not Used
Yellow Cards:	-
KELBIE, Kevin (50 mins)	CONVERY, John (74 mins)
KELLY, Simon (56 mins)	SMITH, Andy (84 mins)
Red Cards:	-
None	None