BetMcLean Cup Final’s new date gave me lift in fitness battle: Paul McElroy

Portadown's Paul McElroy returned for his side's Irish Cup Quarter-Final defeat to Cliftonville

Paul McElroy is relishing having a shot at a second BetMcLean Cup winners’ medal after winning his race against time.

The striker returned to the Portadown starting line-up last Friday night after more than four months out with a knee injury that required surgery, just in time for a Final date with Linfield that he feared he wasn’t going to make.

It was after discovering that the Northern Ireland Football League had shifted the date of their showpiece decider that the 29-year-old was given an extra incentive to get back onto the pitch.

“I’d asked on the night of the Semi-Final against Glenavon what date the Final was scheduled for because I remember from winning it with Dungannon Swifts that it was played around mid-February,” said McElroy.

“When I was told it was March 10 it clicked with me straight away that I would have a chance of being back before then and hopefully be able to play part of it.”

After getting the green light to step up his rehab — “I am sick of sitting up in the stands and just watching,” is how McElroy summed up his feelings while on the sidelines — he returned in style with two goals in a reserve game against Knockbreda.

McElroy had scored seven goals in 11 Championship outings for the promotion-chasing Ports before suffering the injury — only Ryan Mayse has scored more for the Shamrock Park men this season.

Having a player with that quality in front of goal back in the team is a major boost for Niall Currie’s team, who will be massive underdogs when they face the Blues on their own Windsor Park turf.

While he is hungry to be part of the occasion, McElroy acknowledges that there is a much bigger picture