That decisive score came midway through the first half when Conor Megarrity made a great midfield break from his fullback position and found Josh Grant running a clever support line to touch down. Niall Davidson added the conversion to put Portadown 7-0 up.
Three minutes later the same player made a superb from his own half which finished when he was halted seven metres from the try line by a high tackle. The resultant penalty was taken quickly and Ruari Quinn finished off the attack with an unconverted try to put the home team into a 12-0 lead.
Close to the interval Megarrity fielded a loose Ballymena kick and launched a counter attack. He off loaded to the supporting James Wright who threw a deft pass to Davidson. The flyhalf outwitted the Ballymena defence and touched down for a try which he converted to put his team into a 19-0 lead.
Ballymena fought back and got rewarded for their enterprise when Dylan Hacine-Bacha took advantage of a well–organised driven maul to power over the try line. Conor McNeill added the extras to reduce the arrears to 19-7 at the interval.
Ballymena started the second half as they finished the first - on the attack. They forced Portadown into conceding a number of penalties, one of which McNeill converted to leave the scoreboard reading 19-10.
Then, Hacine-Bacha scorched through some weak Portadown defence to cross the whitewash close to the posts, allowing McNeill to convert. With the deficit now reduced to 19-17 there was a nervous look about the Portadown team. They had a golden opportunity to calm those nerves when, midway through the second half, they created a four man overlap only to drop the ball with the line at their mercy.
Ballymena then mounted a series of attacks in the Portadown ‘red zone’ but the home defence managed to keep the line intact. That was until Jonny Crooks managed to outpace the Portadown defence and touch down for a try with just a few minutes remaining. McNeill again converted to give his side a 19-24 lead.
Now it was the turn of Portadown to up the ante. Their constant pressure proved too much for the Ballymena defence and Jamie Dickson blasted his way over the line for a try. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful and the game finished with a 24-24 draw. However, it was Portadown that scored the first try of this seven try thriller and, as such, they progress into the draw for the Nutty Krust semi finals which will be held on 1st April.
Following the game, Ulster U19 Manager Clive Bowles presented the Man of the Match Award to Portadown openside flanker James Wright.
The second quarter final of the 2015 Nutty Krust U18 Tournament will take place at 7.45pm on Wednesday 18th March when Malone will play Dromore.