Setanta Cup Group Two: The spectacle can hardly have been worth it but the handful of Cork City fans who made the long trek to Shamrock Park last night did at least leave with their sights still firmly fixed on a place in the final of the Setanta Cup.

They might reasonably hope for better football during the weeks ahead from a team managed by Damien Richardson, a man who prides himself on that sort of thing but few will complain about either the result or, on this occasion, about the fact this performance was all about application rather than art.

It was generally poor stuff but after a disappointing opening half the game improved as City appeared to get to grips with their opponents and sense that a win wasn't out of the question.

Briefly they had even looked to be on course for a victory that would have left them within two points of a place in the competition's final with a couple of games left to play but they were quickly pegged back by a Portadown side whose own hopes of emerging from the group would have been all but killed off by a defeat.

City's lead was provided in the 64th minute by Kevin Doyle's angled shot after Peter McCann had surrendered possession to Denis Behan, and Colin O'Brien had set last year's leading scorer racing clear.

But it came towards the end of their best spell and they began to lose their way almost immediately with Portadown bouncing back to draw level with just short of a quarter of an hour left to play.

Richard Clarke got the goal, a powerful close-range header that turned Gary Hamilton's corner into the net before Michael Devine had had any time to react.

Richardson, though, must have been dismayed by the way the midfielder had met the ball unchallenged when every outfield player bar Doyle was either in or around the six-yard box as the cross arrived from the left.

The equaliser came as a huge relief to the locals who had edged the midfield battle and enjoyed plenty of possession in Cork's half while rarely actually threatening to make any sort of breakthrough.

Not long before Doyle's opener, Vinny Arkins had produced what was, at that stage, the home side's best chance with a shot that Michael Devine still gathered almost effortlessly. However, that had been overshadowed moments later at the other end where Behan forced the save of the night from Paul Murphy.

Having contributed hugely to the competition's best game so far when they came from behind to draw 3-3 at Shelbourne, the home side seemed incapable of injecting any life into the rather grim encounter until obliged to press forward late on. By then they did come close on a couple of occasions to grabbing a late winner.

In central midfield Michael Collins was the team's key figure with the Belfastman getting the better of George O'Callaghan through the bulk of the opening hour but Wesley Boyle, so central to the comeback at Tolka Park, made almost no impact and was replaced as Ronnie McFaul tried to shake things up.

His first switch of the second half backfired as Peter McCann's first touch led to Doyle's goal but his side did finish the stronger and second-half bookings picked up by Alan Bennett and Danny Murphy, as City dug in for the draw, will keep them out of the visit to Shelbourne on May 2nd.

PORTADOWN: Murphy; Feeney, Kelly, Convery, O'Hara; Boyle (Quinn, 73 mins), Clarke (P McCann, 63 mins), Collins, Neill (Hamilton, 25 mins); Arkins, M McCann.

CORK CITY: Devine; Horgan, Bennett, Murray, Murphy; Woods, O'Callaghan, O'Brien, Kearney; Doyle, Behan.

Referee: B Turkington (Belfast).