FOOTBALL: Ports are raring to go!

Gary Taylor’s side have been in pre-season now for the past few weeks and are looking forward to start of the new season.

“We have our first pre-season game this Saturday against Ballymena side All Saint’s, “ told Gary.

“We had a very small squad last season and that proved to be a problem when he had injuries, but this year we have pulled in a number of good young players so we have good squad to pick from,” admitted Gary.

Lee Rushe returns to his footballing roots after signing from Ballyclare.

Ryan Tannahill and Owen Moody have signed from Glebe, while Ricky Dunlop, Ryan Moffatt and Chris Donnell have also signed on the dotted line for the Seasiders.

Add to that Dean Murray and Paul Milliken and the Ports have a decent squad.

“It was good to get the likes of Dean Murray and Archie Quinn from Coleraine.

“They are only young boys, but they are keen to learn. They are promising young players and we’ll certainly put them to good use,” admitted Gary.

Looking ahead to the start of the season, Gary hopes to improve on last year’s position: “We finished mid-table, but to be honest we could have done so much better.

“We dropped points against teams that we should have been beating, and on the other side of the coin we got results against the top teams, so we know we can get the results.

“We’ve been working hard in training and we’re all eager to get going,” said Gary.

Portstewart have a number of friendlies lined up in the coming weeks:

Saturday, July 14: Portstewart v All Saints (2.30 kick off)

Tuesday, July 17: Portstewart v Coleraine Reserves (7.30 kick off)

Saturday July 21: Eglinton v Portstewart (2.30 kick off)

Saturday July 28: Portstewart v Groomsport (2.30 kick off)

Saturday August 4: Portstewart v Campbelltown (1.30 kick off)

Monday August 6: Portstewart v Coleraine (7.30 kick off)

Portstewart are currently on the look out for sponsors for the coming season. Anyone interested in sponsoring a match or the Club should contact Alistair MacFadyen on 07770559717