Irish Cup hero Zach Barr better than I thought he’d be, admits Portadown boss Niall Currie

Portadown 2 Bangor 1

Portadown striker Zach Barr grabbed a double against Bangor in their Irish Cup tie

Niall Currie hailed two-goal hero Zach Barr as an even better striker than he thought he was after he fired Portadown into a Clearer Water Irish Cup Quarter-Final meeting with Cliftonville next month.

Barr scored in each half to secure a 2-1 win over Bangor that saw the Shamrock Park men extend their perfect run in knockout competitions to ten matches.

Jim Magilton’s Premiership title contenders will pose a very different threat when they meet next month, but the Ports have already beaten six other top flight teams while also reaching the Final of the League Cup and winning the Mid-Ulster Cup, and with an in-form striker like Barr stepping up it makes for an exciting contest.

“I knew he was a good striker obviously with the number of goals that he scores, but I didn’t realise how good he is at finishing,” said Currie.

“To me he is a natural finisher and he is in the right place.

“He is a wonderful finisher and I am really pleased for him because he’s a really lovely fella point one and point two, he had two or three clubs chasing him and he decided to come here.

“I think he has got a wonderful relationship with our supporters already. They’ve really taken to him. They love a goal scorer at this club.,”

Barr had given Portadown a dream start with a superb finish from the edge of the box after only six minutes, controlling Kenny Kane’s low driven cross with his right foot before tucking the ball into the corner of the net with his left.

The Seasiders hit back just 13 minutes later when Ben Arthurs sent a bullet header past Aaron Hogg from Tiernan Mulvenna’s left-wing corner.

It really was anyone’s game after that until