Match Report v Portstewart – 30/8/25
Lisburn Distillery v Portstewart (Playr-Fit Premier Intermediate League) – Saturday 30th August 2025
Lisburn Distillery were at home for the first time on Saturday in this season’s Premier Intermediate League (PIL) hoping to build on the previous week’s 2-2 draw with Knockbreda that got the Whites off the mark in the opening game of the league campaign, Portstewart the visitors on this occasion.
There were three changes to the side; Benny Igiehon returned from suspension, Aaron Sharkey made his full debut after the briefest of appearances in the previous game and Marcus Thompson started in goals, Abi Sanusi, Justin Grattan and Ruadhan McKenna were the players to make way.
It was a wet and windy day at New Grosvenor but the Whites had the advantage of playing with the wind behind them in the first half and had the first opportunities of the game to score but Guillaume Keke and Gerard Storey’s shots on goal were blocked by Portstewart defenders within seconds of each other after five minutes. Two minutes later Caleb Crawford opted to shoot on the visitor’s goal after collecting a clearance in the centre circle and striding forward, his effort from over 30 yards was not far wide of the target.
After 15 minutes, Distillery had the best chance of the game so far to take the lead; Igiehon kept himself onside and got on the end of a lovely pass from Aaron Boyd on the right. The former Portadown striker could not add further to his goal tally for the season though as Paul Wells was able to all too comfortably turn the ball behind for a corner kick, which came to nothing. Portstewart had a rare attack after 20 minutes but Adam McCart blocked Calvin McCallion’s strike from the edge of the box and in a stroke of luck, the wind stopped the ball from going out for a corner and allowed Thompson to snuff out any further danger for the time being at least.
Two Josh Lynch crosses into the Portstewart box looked certain to give Stephen Hughes’ side the lead but firstly his free kick on 27 minutes was just out of reach of the diving Storey. Then, with less than 10 minutes of the half remaining, the midfielder did find Igiehon in the six-yard box with a cross from the left but his header was just wide.
A largely uneventful first half played in miserable conditions was then brought to a close with no goals scored by either side and chances being few and far between.
Distillery had certainly had the lion’s share of possession and will have been disappointed that one of Igiehon’s two efforts had not hit the back of the Portstewart net, there was perhaps a feeling in the ground that the Whites had not taken full advantage of having the wind behind them in the opening 45 minutes.
Half Time: Lisburn Distillery 0-0 Portstewart
The second half started in much the same vein as the first had been played, with both teams trying to deal with the conditions, although the rain died off at times the wind remained fairly persistent with Distillery now having to play into it.
The closest either side really came to scoring in the first 15 minutes after the restart was when a high ball forward from the Portstewart midfield caught Thompson off his line and had the Whites goalkeeper scrambling back but fortunately, the ball cleared the crossbar.
There was another nervous moment for Distillery just before the hour mark when a visiting player went down after a challenge inside the penalty area but the appeals were waved away. In the 62nd minute, a golden chance for Distillery went begging when Keke was released down the left and easily outpaced the Portstewart defenders but seemed to rush to shoot and generated nowhere near enough power to beat Wells.
The home side would be made to regret this chance just three minutes later when McCallion got on the end of a cross from the right into the Whites box and swept the ball out of reach of Thompson and into the bottom corner to break the deadlock in favour of the visitors. In an attempt to get something out of the game Distillery manager Stephen Hughes made a number of changes with new signing David Alfred coming on for his debut and Sanusi, Ben Napier and Padraig McVicker all entering the fray but in truth after going behind the Whites struggled to so much as make a dent in the Portstewart backline.
It was actually the visitors who almost doubled their lead through captain Ryan Doherty but his shot from just outside the box went just wide of Thompson’s right hand post. In the end, the Whites tasted defeat for the first time in the 2025 / 2026 season in a game that it would have to be said they deserved little out of.
Hopefully this proves to just be one of those days and we now move on to this Saturday’s game against Ballymena United Reserves in the 3rd round of the Steel & Sons Cup.
Full Time: Lisburn Distillery 0-1 Portstewart
Lisburn Distillery; Thompson, Lewis, Lavery, McCart, Lynch, Igiehon, Keke, Boyd, A. Sharkey, Storey, Crawford
Lisburn Distillery substitutions; McKenna, Brennan, McVicker (for Lynch, 89 mins), Alfred (for Keke, 76 mins), Napier (for A. Sharkey, 70 mins), Sanusi (for Boyd, 76 mins)
