Peden delighted to be back for Portstewart!

The 25-year-old has been out of football since October 2011 following a freak eye injury during a match.

The local estate agent has played in Portstewart’s last three games and is thrilled to be back playing again.

“My first match was against Glebe a few weeks ago, I came on as a sub.

“To be honest it was just good to get the boots back on again.

“I was told by a specialist that there was permanent damage to the back of my eye and the risks of playing again would be too high.

“But I felt that I should get a second opinion and I got that from a specialist in America.

“He told that my eye had healed up very well and that the risks were now minimal so, I decided to get in training again.”

And, the Portstewart management were delighted with Owen’s return.

Assistant, Aaron Forgrave told Times Sport: “We’re so glad to have Owen back. Both him and his brother James have been exceptional in the last few games. He’s a great asset to the team and the boys are very pleased that he’s decided to come back.”

Ports draw with the students

Queen’s University were the visitors to Portstewart on Saturday.

Portstewart had been expecting a tough test against the fourth place side but it was the home side who started the game brightest.

Ian Todd, Owen Moody and Craig Ramsey returned to the squad and it was from an impressive run from Ian Todd that Portstewart took the lead. Ricky Dunlop got on the end of a Todd pass to hit home just before the break.

Queen’s battled hard for the opening minutes of the second half and had Portstewart under pressure. They were rewarded with an equaliser. The game was pretty even after this, with both sides having good chances in front of goal.

Queen’s took the lead with fifteen minutes to go, but Portstewart were determined to take something from the game.

James Peden proved to be the man of the moment.

He went on a great solo run from his own half beating a number of Queen’s defenders before hitting home to equalise.

After that Queen’s were denied a third thanks to a good save from Madison in the Portstewart goal.

Final score Portstewart 2-2 Queen’s.

“We were delighted with the performance,” said Aaron Forgrave.

“I couldn’t fault any of the boys on the park, they all gave 110 percent. It was a good result for us, Queen’s are sitting fourth in the league and have a good experienced team.”

Portstewart entertain Killymoon Rangers this Saturday: “Killymoon are like ourselves they are both wanting and needing results. It’’ll be a tight game, but I think if we can perform like we did on Saturday then we will get a result,” added Forgrave.